Invasion Evasion
by ScorplinginTraining
Summary: Calling all geniuses! The world needs your expertise! The team must reunite to avert a global disaster before every inhabitant on Earth becomes obsolete.
1. Shift

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Yep. Here I am again. This story is going to run like an episode, hopefully. Right now I still have the details cooking. Are you on board?**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"Ms. Dineen?"

Paige was thinking, 'Who wants to know?' but answered with a long-suffering, "Yes?" instead.

She stared with raised eyebrows at the government agent standing on the opposite side of her desk at the Centipede headquarters. She'd had more than enough of their invading presence in the last few weeks. In that moment the former liaison was having trouble drumming up enough respect to even be tactful.

It didn't help matters that the woman resembled an automaton. Her dark hair was shot with iron grey and was scraped so severely back from her pinch-featured face it probably broke the sound barrier like a whiplash when she released it from the bun at the nape of her neck. If she ever let her hair down at all. Her requisite navy suit was boxy and genderless, not softening her formidable appearance one iota. Undoubtedly that was the intention.

"I'm Magna Weldon with the NSA," the woman said in a clipped, superior way as if mere laypeople should be duly impressed by the announcement. She briefly flashed her badge and ID, but flipped it closed before Paige could actually verify any information.

Not that she cared one way or the other. She just wanted this person to state her business and leave the headquarters in peace. Or in pieces like it had been before the official walked into her office.

"I'm here about your son."

Icy knuckles of alarm bumped along Paige's spine causing her to abruptly sit up straight and slap her palms on the desktop. She'd been afraid of this. "You've already plundered my entire team," she snapped defensively, "You can't have him too."

Weldon's thin lips curved up on one side in a cruel imitation of a smile. "Let's be reasonable here…"

"I think I've been more than reasonable. You people have systematically gutted my business by stealing my whole staff to work on some super-secret government project for an undetermined amount of time. How am I supposed to run a genius consulting service with no geniuses? And now _this_!" Paige felt herself becoming hysterical and took one then two more pacifying gulps of air. Her voice shook and took on a pleading note she despised but couldn't seem to help. "I'm serious. You can _not_ have him. He's a minor. I'm his mother. I have _rights_."

"Please calm down, Ms. Dineen. No one is suggesting we take him away from you. If you would collect yourself and give me a moment, I can explain."

Paige leaned back in her chair again, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. In an attempt to alleviate some of her agitation, she dug her fingernails into the soft flesh of her forearms leaving reddened, half-moon depressions. When she was slightly calmer, she gave the woman a curt nod of acquiescence.

"We've been aware of Ralph's abilities since he was detained when he was ten years old. We've been monitoring him since that incident. Now that we're facing a global crisis, we could really use his help." When Paige drew breath to argue, the agent held up her hand and said, "If you would allow me to finish... There is a way to bring him in on this mission and still keep the two of you together."

"No," she refused flatly, "He's only a boy. I won't allow you or anyone else to destroy what's left of his innocence by letting him believe the fate of the world is resting on his shoulders. I won't have it," Paige insisted hotly. She recalled too clearly the devastating effect the Baghdad incident had on…

The woman's nostrils flared and she glared impatiently at the protective mother. Her tone turned chilly. "I'm afraid your only choice in the matter is whether or not you decide to take advantage of the offer to go with him. Your son will be of assistance either way. If you force the issue, we could detain you and make him a temporary ward of the state if we must. The circumstances are quite drastic." All pretense of civility had disappeared along with Paige's ability to breathe.

Their eyes locked in an intense staring contest. Paige spoke first. "So we're resorting to martial law now? Can't he work from home or something?" She ground out through gritted teeth to keep from resorting to begging, or worse, crying. She thought briefly about contacting her lawyer before she remembered Sylvester's services had also been commandeered by the US Government and she hadn't heard from him since.

"No. I'm afraid this mission is very much 'hands on'."

"What exactly would he be doing? I won't have you putting him in danger. I don't care what I have to do to stop it."

"Don't worry. He'll be closely supervised and working in a safe laboratory setting along side other geniuses. Most of whom he already knows. In fact, one of them was most insistent about offering you a way to join your son. He seemed to think you were invaluable even though some of us at the NSA don't consider your presence… strictly necessary. But his help is vital as well and he got extremely belligerent about all of this. He threatened to stop his work and destroy any record of the progress he's already made, putting his own personal freedom in jeopardy in the process, I might add. He thinks very highly of you. I believe you used to work for him."

Walter. Obviously.

There was an uncomfortable roiling sensation in her stomach. No matter they were no longer together. No matter that she'd absconded with nearly all of his employees. No matter that she used Scorpion's contacts to steal clients for her own fledgling company. He was still protecting her and Ralph…from a distance.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Paige hadn't slept a wink. She'd been so wide awake all night she was pretty sure she hadn't so much as blinked either. It was as if she'd consumed a whole six pack of Red Bull and instead of giving her wings, it forced her to memorize the precise position of every tiny kernel of popcorn on the ceiling above her bed while she went over and over and over the version of 'the plan' she was given. It was hardly explained to her at all. No matter how many times she rewound and replayed the bizarre conversation and subsequent events, they never seemed to sink in properly.

Weldon hadn't told her very much. Almost every question was countered with a smug and very unapologetic, "I'm sorry, that's need to know". All Paige could get out of the evasive agent was instructions for her and Ralph to go home and pack for a long trip. She was not told where they were going. Nor how long they would be gone. Nor where exactly they'd be staying, let alone what they'd be required to do.

When she asked what would happen to the lease on her office and her condo, her business and car loans, or what she was supposed to say to Ralph's school, she was simply told it would all be 'taken care of'. Well, that clarified absolutely nothing at all.

Still, what choice did she really have? She couldn't stand for them to take Ralph away to work in some undisclosed location with no ability to communicate. No way.

Paige had briefly considered grabbing her son and disappearing. After all, she still had those ill-gotten gains her mother left in her desk drawer at Scorpion when she'd faked her death and gone off the grid. It was safely tucked away in a numbered bank account in the Caymans. But as she locked up the door to the darkened Centipede office and took note of the unmarked government vehicle parked at the curb, complete with two suits wearing sunglasses inside, in addition to the unwelcome and very vigilant escort of Agent Mulish Magda, she figured it would take a team of geniuses to figure out how to escape them. And she was fresh out of geniuses at the moment. Thanks to the very same government representatives.

Paige finally decided to roll out of bed when she heard the distinct sounds of someone rummaging around in her kitchen cupboards and smelled coffee brewing. It appeared their jailers had made themselves at home. How nice for them.

After switching on the bedside lamp, she rose and threw on her robe. She'd just pulled her suitcase down from the top shelf in the closet, when someone knocked briskly on her door. When she didn't answer right away, the knock sounded again.

Ten seconds. This agent couldn't give her ten seconds?

"Come on in," An over-tired Paige groused angrily, "Mi casa es _totally_ tu casa now."

The door swung inward as she slammed the suitcase down on the bed watching in satisfaction as it bounced three times on the mattress before she slung it open.

"Is someone in a mood?"

What the hell?

"Agent Gleason? What are _you_ doing here? Am I actually asleep and dreaming? I thought we were only being hassled by the NSA. Now MI-6 is somehow involved in this mess too?"

His sharp eyes evaluated her rumpled, red-eyed, sleep-deprived appearance. "I'm afraid multiple agencies are involved worldwide. I think you were told this… crisis is on a larger than normal scale. The higher ups thought you might feel more at ease with someone you already know."

Someone she _knew_? Like anyone could know Gleason. His own mother probably couldn't figure him out.

"I've been told literally nothing except my son is being kidnapped by the government and I'm being invited along for the ride." She started haphazardly shoving clothes in the suitcase. "How does one even know how to pack for such a thing? Is it going to be tropical where we're being held? Or should I throw in my snowshoes? Will my set of lock picks be useful in helping us to escape? Or should I just bring my manicure set and hope the metal detectors don't alert my captors to the file inside? Will they be providing us with those attractive orange jumpsuits for the length of our stay? And how many undies will I need? I mean, will we be gone long enough to require laundry facilities?"

She shook a fistful of undergarments at Gleason. His expression didn't change one iota. "I should think your accommodations will be climate controlled. A light sweater should do the trick. I don't think your burglary tools will be necessary and will only take up space which is already scarce. As for unmentionables, you may want to pack a fair few. I'm not exactly sure about laundry privileges."

Paige sank down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "Is there anything useful you _can_ tell me?"

"Yes. I can tell you I've made coffee and your transportation is waiting for you outside whenever you're ready."

"Gee. Thanks for that. That really clears things right up for me." She hurled the words at the enigmatic man's back as he turned to go, leaving her alone with her jumbled thoughts.

Showered, dressed, packed, caffeinated and filled with trepidation, Paige plopped down in the middle seat of the standard government-issue SUV next to Ralph. She could tell right away her son was near to bursting with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming mission. He was thrilled when she told him what she knew, which was next to nothing, the evening before. It was all some kind of grand adventure to him. And she couldn't discount his enthusiasm might have something to do with seeing and working with Walter again too. If the break up of their relationship and the demise of Scorpion three months ago was difficult for her, it was even worse for Ralph. He'd been crushed. This was the most lively she'd seen him since. If there was an upshot to all the intrigue and doubt, that was it. However, she still worried over what he might be facing and what it would mean for him if the mission wasn't successful.

During the mostly silent ride, Ralph's eyes remained glued to a distant spot somewhere outside his window while Paige's kept darting over to him. She hadn't been paying much attention to where they were going until Ralph asked the driver, "Why are we stopping at the courthouse?"

"This is where the wedding will happen," the man answered gruffly as if it should have been obvious.

"Wedding? What wedding?" Paige asked,

"Yours, of course," Gleason replied from the front passenger seat, "There is limited space in the laboratory and the living quarters. You needed a valid reason to be included. The top scientists were the only ones allowed to bring immediate family, up to four persons. This is your cover for being there."

The vehicle rolled to a stop while Paige's tired mind whirled trying to process the words while the beginnings of a fatigue headache started pulsing in her temples. "Hang on… Aren't I considered Ralph's immediate…?"

Her question trailed off as she spied a very familiar figure at the top of the courthouse steps. She felt all the blood drain from her head leaving her dizzy.

Ralph fingers scrambled to fling off his seatbelt and he threw open his door.

"Walter!" He called happily as he vaulted up those steps two at a time.


	2. Enter

INVASION EVASION

CHAPTER 2

 **AN: Happy Fri-yay! Thanks for all the reviews and follows. How 'bout another chapter as a reward?**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

The most normal thing Paige had done all day was marry her ex. From there her life stepped off that semi-stable, if surreal cliff and fell head first into a vat of freakish phantasmagoria.

Her brain had already been addled from her sleepless night. Enter the ex.

Her traitorous heart had been so glad to see Walter standing there greeting her son with a welcoming grin identical to Ralph's as he ruffled the boy's hair. It had given a slight sputter at the thought of him as her potential husband. Apparently, during the time they'd been apart, he'd become _her_ Little Arrhythmia.

And she'd finally crossed that fine line. Not only was she completely stupid, she was also a certifiable lunatic.

Since the older genius resembled a life raft in the ocean of insanity in which Paige found herself swimming, she'd latched onto him and began to grill him immediately, purposely sounding irritable to mask her other, less convenient emotions. "What the hell is going on here, Walter? Was this your idea?"

His grin dropped away when his dark eyes turned toward her. "Um, I know the situation isn't… ideal. To answer your question, it wasn't _originally_ my idea, but it was one of the solutions I presented. So,... yes. Maybe?"

"You're talking in circles. You're going to have to dumb it down for the normal a little. _I'm_ Ralph's immediate family. Why is getting married necessary for me to be granted a seat on this crazy train?"

"Paige, we won't be travelling by, uh, train."

She'd tsked and narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you _know_ what I meant."

"Sorry. Of-of course. There are already a small number of minors who will be working up there without parental supervision. Even though Ralph would be the youngest of them, that fact, in and of itself, still wasn't enough for you to be included. See, technically any adult can act as an overseer for an underage person. They already had a system in place for that eventuality. However, the geniuses with the highest IQs and most pertinent skills were allowed to bring certain members of their families. If-if they were considered useful to the mission in some way as well. This really was the only way…"

"We're burning daylight, folks," One of their federal babysitters barked. "Let's get this done."

Before she could ask anything else, the three of them were promptly ushered into the courthouse.

These Feds evidently had some serious clout, because they were able to get the usual waiting period and blood tests waived while Paige and Walter were pushed to the front of the line and legally married before the bride drew breath to raise any further objections.

It wasn't exactly the romantic wedding she'd dreamed of in her adolescent fantasies. Oddly, the groom was the same person in her more recent ones.

Afterwards, no one offered congratulations. No one tossed rice or confetti or birdseed as the newlyweds were rushed back to the car. The only one who seemed happy for them was Ralph. His delight was written boldly across his young face. But all the suits were, to a one, stolid and serious. Her reluctant groom appeared almost sour. They hadn't even held hands when the judge had rapidly pronounced them 'man and wife' and they sort of skipped over the kissing part because they were being hurried back outside.

The atmosphere in the SUV was suffocating with unspoken thoughts and unanswered questions. Ralph sat between his mother and brand new stepdad in the middle seat surrounded by the silent sentinels charged with escorting them. Occasionally, Ralph and Walter would exchange a few quiet words, but any attempted conversation would soon lapse, unable to compete with the heavy hush in the vehicle.

Evidently, Paige must've nodded off, because the next thing she knew, she was woken up by the sound of tires crunching on gravel as the Suburban slowly navigated its way onto the tarmac of some remote airstrip that was vaguely familiar.

Then she remembered why. It was the same airfield where Richard Elia's rocket launched Walter into orbit. What the hell were they doing there?

That's when she first caught sight of _it_. A launch platform was set up at the end of a long runway and there, pointing its rounded nose skyward, was the biggest space shuttle Paige had ever seen. Not that she'd seen many. It was illuminated so brightly she could see the skeletal frames of scaffolding all around it and workmen crawling on the outside of its shiny and smooth white skin like tiny ants in gleaming, silver hardhats.

"Is that it?" Ralph whispered to Walter in awe, looking completely enthralled. "Is that our ride?"

Wait. _What_?

Paige snorted. "No one's being blasted into space today, Ralph."

The two geniuses traded a look then, as one, turned toward her, blinking and looking uncomfortable.

Walter cleared his throat. "Well, uh, probably not _today_."

"Uh, no. No no no no no. Not happening." Paige vehemently shook her head.

"It's okay, Mom. You'll see." Ralph assured. "I promise we'll explain more later. As soon as we can. Trust me."

She didn't feel much better.

However it did occur to her to wonder why it sounded like Ralph knew way more about this mission than she did. It was also eerie exactly how much her son resembled Walter when he asked her to trust him and what truly upset her was how much she was comforted by the similarity.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Lugging their cumbersome bags from the SUV, they were herded toward what appeared to be temporary barracks. Guards standing at the front entrance were shown credentials and papers before standing aside to let them go indoors.

Walter turned to ask her something just as a helicopter started its ascent nearby. The noise of the rotors and the loud snapping of the enormous structure's canvas walls in the strong wind drowned out his question. Without bothering to ask again, let alone wait for her answer, he reached over and grabbed the handle of her suitcase in his free hand and took it from her.

Since Paige had nearly dislocated a shoulder under the weight of her over-stuffed bag, she was grateful for his help even if the method was a little domineering. She only wished she could keep herself from admiring the way his broad shoulders bunched under his shirt as he walked in front of her carrying the load. Lucky thing his shirt was un-tucked or she may have tempted to also check out his tight, little…

Some things never changed. Li'l Ol' Paige Dineen had always found it super sexy being rescued by Walter O'Brien. And also found his autocratic behavior endearing.

In other words, there was something seriously wrong with her.

One end of the vast, rectangular room was crowded with rows upon rows of identical narrow cots, while the other side housed a bunch of long tables and benches. Most of the people were gathered in clumps around the end with the tables. Her eyes searched each cluster for a sign of Sylvester, Happy or Toby. She was suddenly desperate to see another familiar face.

Walter and Ralph found three empty cots and dropped the bags on them. Paige noted Walter made sure her son's bag and backpack were on top of the bed between theirs. So the wedding night was about to prove as perfect as the wedding had been. She refused to acknowledge the disappointment tightening her gut. After all, she and Walter had more baggage between them than the entire roomful of suitcases currently claiming beds.

Overhead speakers crackled and a commanding voice announced, "All civilian personnel will report to the medical tent in five minutes for a mandatory physical. No exceptions."

Paige didn't much like the sound of that, but she started to join the queue of others anyway. Walter stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Wait," he mouthed, his shrewd eyes darting left to right as people passed by them. When everyone else moved out of earshot, he continued, "When we get to the medical tent, make sure you're in Toby's line. Okay?"

"O-K. Why? Do you think I'll fail the drug test or something?"

He sighed impatiently. "No. But there are… Some people don't think you should be here. Um, they resent you getting to go when members of their own families have to stay behind. I wouldn't put it past one of the other doctors to flunk you out of spite. Please, Paige. Just follow my lead."

They were soon caught up in the stream of people heading out the door. She lost contact with both Walter and Ralph in the crush. Bodies pressed together like the grains of sand passing through the narrow part of an hourglass. Was she being paranoid because of what Walter just told her or did a few people push and jostle her unnecessarily?

A steadying hand grabbed hers and she hung on for dear life. Once they were outside in the bright dessert sunshine, Walter pulled her away from the throng and gave her a critical once over as if to make sure she was unharmed. Paige was thankful to see her son already by his side. He changed his grip to her wrist and didn't let go of either of them again until they were inside the medical tent.

A soldier in dessert camo kept bellowing, "Form a line in front of each of the stations, people. Make five lines…" as he stalked back and fourth hustling stragglers into position.

The exam stations were all obscured by folding screens.

Walter was hanging back, frowning in puzzlement. "How do we know which line is Toby's?" He hissed to Ralph.

The soldier was rapidly approaching the huddled trio when they, and likely the entire compound, heard the loud clanging noise of someone dropping a metal instrument tray. Medical instruments pinged together and bounced, some skittering across the hard, concrete floor.

"Oops! My bad. Clumsy me," Toby's easily recognizable voice rang out loud and clear from behind the second screen.

After sharing quick, amused looks, they scuttled to join the second line before they could be directed toward one of the others.

When it was Paige's turn, she cautiously stepped around the screen. There was Toby looking strangely professional in a lab coat, sitting on a high stool and holding an official looking clipboard.

She'd been craving some indication of normality the whole day, therefore she was hugely relieved to see the shrink's goofy fedora sitting on top of his head. She was tempted to hug him.

Until he opened his mouth, that is.

He fussed over reading her chart then, offering her a benign smile, he crooned, "Ah. Ms. Dineen. The nurse will get you a gown and I'll need you to lay back on the table and put your feet in the stirrups." He flipped the chart closed and raised his eyebrows.

At her horrified look, the doc chuckled. "Just kidding. I'm only going to take your vital signs and declare you 1-A. Don't worry." He shook his head, still laughing to himself, "The look on your face, though… Go ahead. Hop up."

Paige glared at him as she climbed onto the exam table. "Jerk. If you only knew the day I've had… My blood pressure is probably going to be off the charts."

"Doesn't matter. You could be at death's door and I was ordered to declare you 1-A anyway."

Toby replaced the cover on the aural thermometer, stuck the tip in Paige's ear and pressed the button. It beeped and he made a production of marking a large check on her screening sheet. "I'm being kept in the dark about everything. For example, _who_ told you that?"

He snapped his stethoscope into his ears. "What? I can't hear you." He placed the chest piece on her back and said, "Deep breaths."

Paige breathed deeply while he listened for respirations in all four quadrants. "Toby," she asked again, "Who told you to pass me automatically?"

He gestured at the stethoscope. "Still can't hear you."

She picked up the bell and pressed her lips to the diaphragm. "WHO!"

Toby shrieked. "Ow! My tympanic membrane! Who do you think? Your brand spankin' new husband, that's who! Although I'm guessing there hasn't been much time for the spankin' part yet..."

Paige blushed scarlet. Trying to erase the now indelible image from her mind's eye, she diverted, "Since when do you follow orders from Walter? Last time I checked he was no longer your boss."

Toby inflated the blood pressure cuff a little too tightly in Paige's opinion. He didn't answer until it had completely deflated. He leaned toward her and whispered, "Since he made sure me and Happy both got a golden ticket. I owe him. Big time."

"What do you mean by that? How did…?"

Toby stamped her paperwork and handed it to her. "Take this to the clerk by the door. She'll scan it in."

" _Toby_ …"

"You're done, ma'am," he said dismissively. Then he turned away from her and yelled, "Next!"


	3. Control Walt Delete

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: If you follow science-y news, you'll recognize the Chinese accomplishment I mention did actually happen. I just moved it up a few months. As for their other discovery, chock that up to creative licence. Or is it...? The truth is out there!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

Paige was _so_ over it!

She was tired of being kept in the dark. She was tired of everyone knowing more than her. Damn it! She was just plain tired, period!

Her ex-boyfriend/new husband's promised explanation of everything was way overdue.

Wow. _Husband_. That concept brought her entire thought process to a screeching halt.

She hadn't been given enough time to process the strange, new set of circumstances. As fly-by-night as the wedding had been, somehow the marriage felt weirdly right.

She forcefully shoved those feelings into the farthest, neglected corner of her heart. After all, she might never have to explore what they meant. Because if Walter didn't give her the answers she wanted, in detail, she was going to throttle him. 'Til Death Do Us Part' was going to happen a lot sooner than he anticipated.

Well, when she located him anyway.

The intense summer heat felt like a blast furnace compared to the over-chilled, air-conditioned interior of the medical tent. Heat radiated up off the asphalt in melting waves creating shimmering mirages that reflected the blazing blue sky back at itself.

Gleason could've warned her to pack the sunscreen at least.

Maybe the inscrutable agent hadn't told her to bring it along because no one was dumb enough to hang around outside for very long. As soon as each person was dismissed by a medic, everyone, without exception, swiftly retreated back to the living quarters. Surely Walter and Ralph would know enough to meet her there as well. Paige was going to suffer sunstroke if she waited for them by the entrance any longer.

The cool dimness of the barracks was welcoming even if she was struck temporarily blind due to the brilliance of the sunshine. After her eyes adjusted, she spied sack lunches and bottled water laid out on one of the tables. She realized she was ravenous and remembered she'd only had coffee since she got up. And that seemed like ages ago.

As she cautiously approached the provisions, she noticed some of the people were milling around and others were gathered at the tables eating. Most wore grim or shifty-eyed, suspicious expressions. Those who were speaking were doing so quietly. And certainly not to her.

Paige quickly grabbed three sack lunches and three water bottles. She also collected about a dozen dirty looks as if she was being a greedy pig. No one's demeanor softened in the least when she muttered she was getting the extras for her family.

Rough crowd.

She took the lunches and, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, crept over to an empty corner near the furiously chugging A/C unit, hoping the noise of the equipment would enable Walter and her to have a somewhat private conversation. She was owed some answers and she wasn't prepared to wait much longer. She parked herself on the edge of a handy cot and watched the door.

Her son was the first one to return. Paige waved at him from her corner. He was blinking rapidly and didn't respond for a few moments, undoubtedly because he was waiting for his vision to adapt as she had. Once he spotted her, Ralph held up a finger. When Walter soon joined him, they both dodged around people and beds until they were able to get to her.

Without preamble or even a proper greeting, she pushed their lunches at them. Before they'd had the chance to settle, she started in.

"Out with it. I want to know everything. Now."

Walter sat down on the adjacent cot and started digging through the bag in his lap. His eyes briefly roamed the room while he kept his hands busy unwrapping his sandwich. He took a large bite while she fumed, her impatience growing while he chewed. Ralph took his cues from his favorite mentor and tore into his own meal with abandon.

Finally she sighed and said testily, "Please, take your sweet time. I'm not going anywhere."

"Sorry," Walter said around a mouthful of tuna on wheat. He took a sip of water and swallowed. "I don't know how much I should tell you here. We are being pretty closely monitored. You especially."

"See? There. Right there. Why? Why is that?"

He leaned in close and spoke so softly it was hard to hear. "It was easy to convince the people in charge of the need to include Happy and Sly… With Toby it took a bit more persuading…"

"I don't _believe_ you! _You're_ the one responsible for the dismantling of the Centipede Team?! What the hell, Walter? Is this your idea of revenge or sabotage or something?"

He hushed her. "Keep your voice down. Please." When she glared at him, he continued, frowning back at her in frustration. "No. No matter what you think of me, I didn't resort to revenge. This project really did need as many genius minds as possible."

Paige gasped. "Did you send them after Ralph too?"

"Mom, I _wanted_ to be here," her son interjected.

Ignoring the teen's outburst and wearing a deeper, offended scowl, the older genius answered shortly, "No. He was already on their radar. He and I had been communicating covertly on some of the more complicated aspects of the mission though. But even if they hadn't wanted to pull him in, I would've done everything in my power to get you both here anyway. In spite of our recent history. It wasn't safe for either of you to be left out. The NSA jumped the gun before I had enough time to prove how crucial you are to this assignment. That's why people here are resentful of you. Lots of them would love to see you booted out. They all have a pretty good idea what's really at stake."

Their little huddle fell immediately silent and all three of them pretended extreme interest in their food when a couple of guards passed by them on their way around the perimeter of the room.

Paige nibbled on a chip. "What exactly is at stake? And what's with all the heavy security? I feel like a prisoner in Supermax."

She was acutely aware of Ralph's intently listening ears as he spooned up applesauce, his eyes following their exchange like a tennis match. Until she recalled he already knew more than her since he and Walter had ostensibly been talking without her knowledge for weeks. That discussion would need to wait for another day, however.

"Um, the fate of the human race is what's at stake. I'm aware that sounds dramatic, but in this case, it's a literal truth. As for the security? Believe it or not, they are here for our protection. If the truth were to leak out… Well, let's just say it would cause pandemonium."

Paige felt like she was having to pry information out bit by tiny bit. "Is it an extinction level event like the methane pockets in Norway?" She prompted.

Walter's gaze dropped to his lap, but not before she caught his stricken look. Her heart sank realizing he was probably thinking about Mark Collins' prediction of the demise of their budding relationship and how the evil genius used every opportunity to systematically sow the seeds of doubt between them. Mentioning the long ago case had undeniably called the same haunting echoes to the forefront of her own mind.

Walter cleared his throat. "No. It's-It's not a natural catastrophic event." He took another covert glance around before speaking again, "I'm warning you now. It sounds crazy. You will have to suspend your disbelief and-and trust me. I, um, know I've given you reason to doubt my word before, but I promise I'm not making any of this up."

The parts of sandwich she'd managed to ingest hardened to stone in her middle. Walter had never been prone to over-exaggeration and she was starting to suspect she may not want to know the details. She told herself that well-informed was forewarned - isn't that how the saying went? - as she braced herself for the truth.

"Um, did you hear that China was able to land a rover on the far side of the moon a few weeks ago?"

"Ralph may have mentioned it." But Paige hadn't been paying close attention. Her son's avid love for space and technology always reminded her of Walter. And it hurt. Far more than she cared to admit.

He hesitated, rubbing at the back of his neck as if attempting to buy time to find the right words. "Well, you know that side has never been visible from Earth before, right?"

"Yes. It's because it stays dark all the time. Isn't that why it's called 'the dark side of the moon'?"

"No. That's a common misconception. The Earth's gravity keeps the moon from revolving on it's axis as often as we do. So, a moon day is actually approximately 29.5 of our days… The far side faces us only when it's in the New Phase…"

"I don't need a science lecture, Walter."

His lips tightened at the corners and his eyes turned flinty. "Yes, of course. But you know better than anyone I can't seem to help myself. I apologize."

Ah, crap. Paige's intent hadn't been to rehash her unnecessarily vicious and uncalled for parting words, she'd simply wanted him to hurry up and get to the point. "That's not what I…"

"In short," He interrupted tartly, "the Chinese discovered an observation base of some sort up there. It appears to be uninhabited as of right now, but it looks as if it has been there for a number of years. It was emitting a periodic signal. When the rover recorded it, and played it back to ground control with the normal delay, it sounded like an atonal collection of random sounds. But when the scientists tweaked the programming a bit, in anticipation of the next message, they were more or less able to hear it as it would've sounded live. It was loosely translated into somewhat inaccurate, rudimentary Mandarin. The message was… threatening in nature."

"Threatening how? And whose base was it? The Russians? The Middle East?"

Walter and Ralph exchanged a look Paige couldn't interpret but didn't like.

"The origin of the message was… not from Earth."

Paige's eyebrows shot up. "Are you kidding me? So we're talking about what, _aliens_ here?"

"Yes."

She nodded even as she felt her lips start to twitch. "Okay. So… little green men with bulbous heads and huge, black, lidless eyes?"

Walter paused, his all-too-human eyes cutting to the side in discomfort. "We have yet to discover the nature of their physical appearance," he muttered.

She snickered behind her palm. "Right. Do I get to be Scully? Does that make you Mulder? I'll just call you Fox, shall I?"

"Who's that? Are you alright?"

It was unstoppable at that point. Paige lost it. Totally. She couldn't help it. The more baffled Walter and Ralph looked, the harder she laughed. She laughed so hard her eyes were streaming. She laughed so hard people started to stare, making Walter look decidedly nervous.

She took a gasping breath. "Whoo! Best laugh I've had in a while." She dabbed at her eyes with the napkin from her lunch bag. "Are you somehow involved in this elaborate hoax, or were you actually fooled by this? I can't tell. You're usually not that great of a liar, but I can't believe a genius like you would buy this load of bullshit."

"Language," Ralph reprimanded automatically, "And it's not bull… poop."

Walter was peering at her as if he was afraid she'd gone berserk. "I've personally analyzed all the data the Chinese moonlander collected. I can assure you this is not a hoax."

Paige studied those earnest expressions. After a long minute, she asked in a skeptical tone, "You're serious?"

Ralph patted her knee. "It's okay, Mom. It's a lot to take in."

She wracked what was left of her suddenly mushy brain. Had _she_ fallen down the stairs at some point? Was this simply a hallucination where she was married to Walter? Wouldn't that serve as some sort of poetic justice. And she certainly felt like she was floating above her body looking down on this whole farce from somewhere up above.

But, no. Paige couldn't recall any recent head injuries. Only sleepless nights.

"What exactly is our mission, then?" She ultimately managed to choke out through stiff lips, still eyeing them doubtfully.

"The rover was only programmed to collect certain types of data. It wasn't designed to enter a structure to investigate closely." It was Ralph who answered while Walter eye-balled her, looking concerned. "The authorities of Earth are pooling their resources and sending their brightest minds to explore the base, examine and figure out the tech and neutralize the threat. In a few days time, we will be going up in the space shuttle we saw earlier. Happy helped design it and Sylvester calculated the coordinates, so you can rely on the integrity."

As if that would help her grasp this notion any better? The idea was so foreign, so…well, _alien_ …, Paige couldn't wrap her head around it. But her son kept talking anyway as if this was just another crazy-but-normal-for-Scorpion case.

"It's really great, because all the powers of Earth have a reason to put aside their differences and work together for a change. We have a common enemy and a common goal."

"What happens if we can't… figure it all this out? What then?"

"The annihilation of the whole human population of the planet," Walter stated baldly. He'd never quite learned the finesse of breaking bad news gently.

Paige went cold all over. "Can we do this?" She was begging for reassurance when she knew no one could be sure. Even Walter.

"I think we stand a fair chance." Now he was blowing smoke. She could tell. He leaned toward her conspiratorially and whispered, "If not, there's… a Plan B already in place."

There was more? Did she really want to know? But she found herself asking anyway, "What's that?"

"There will be survival gear and the materials for a bio-dome structure on board the shuttle," the older genius answered matter-of-factly, but she could see he was shaken. "If… If we are unsuccessful… The best minds with no obvious genetic flaws were included on this project for a reason. If Phase One fails, we will be attempting to… start the first colony on Mars."

The buzzing in her ears and the churning nausea, it was all her own fault. She'd demanded the full truth.

Just when she'd started to believe things couldn't possibly get any worse and while she was still picking her jaw up off the floor, an odd, staccato voice politely inquired from somewhere out of view, "Hello. May I join you?"

Hold on. She knew that particular voice with its peculiar inflections. Paige's startled eyes met those of her nemesis and former rival for Walter's affections.

Florence.

She was expected to inhabit a space ship for an undetermined amount of time and then possibly colonize a new planet with… _Florence_?

In that case, there was only one thing left to be said.

Fuck.

AN: **'Scuse the language but what else could she say at that point? ;-) Does one F bomb constitute an M rating? Thanks for the encouraging reviews. Hope you're still with me after that big reveal. Love putting these guys through their paces, so there's lots more to come.**


	4. Paige Down

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Ready for another (hopefully exciting) chapter? Well, here you go...**

 **Thanks for your comments! Love 'em all!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"Wake up, waitress!"

Paige groaned something rude and yanked the thin, scratchy blanket over her head only to have it immediately whisked up and off of her.

"Hey! What the hell!" She bit out angrily.

Happy dropped down onto the end of the flimsy cot, narrowly missing squashing the other woman's feet in the process. As she balled the stolen blanket up in her lap, she stated, "If you'd get your lazy ass outta bed when I ask, I wouldn't have to resort to violence." The little mechanic shrugged.

"What my wife is trying to tell you, in her usual shy way, is she'd like to have _launch_ with you today. See what I did there?"

"I hate you. Both of you." Paige mumbled into her pillow.

"No you don't." Toby smirked, knowingly. "Today's the big day. We're not going away, because we want to make sure you share this experience with us. C'mon, Paige. It's gonna be a blast ...off."

"Easy for you to say." She griped while he giggled at his own joke.

"Not really. You think you're the only one having a hard time with all this?" She opened one eye and saw the shrink giving her that signature analyzing look she detested.

"No. But at least you two are experiencing _all this_ together with your spouse and love of your life."

"Uh, so are you, last time I checked," Happy threw out there.

"I hate logic too," she grumbled back at them as she flopped over and sat up. "Besides, at least for Toby, those two are one in the same person. See, _your_ husband isn't bringing his latest plaything along for the ride. I guess my _spouse,_ " she spit the word out as if it tasted foul, "requires one companion for mental stimulation and the other for the more, uh, physical aspects. Or else he's trying to populate Mars with his genius DNA twice as fast as everyone else. I guess it's more ' _efficient'_ that way. Ha! As if I'd ever let him touch me again. Now, get off my bed."

Toby and Happy exchanged an exasperated look.

"You need to hold it down, dummy. Not everyone knows about… _'Plan B'_." The machinist hissed the last part out of the corner of her mouth.

"Paige," Toby said in that annoyingly soothing tone of his, "For the umpteenth time. Walter has no romantic interest in Flo and he finds her about as sexually appealing as he does the average artichoke."

She stabbed agitated fingers through her disheveled hair, wincing when they caught in some of the tangles. "For all you know he's really into choking," she retorted, feeling satisfied when he made a disgusted face, "None of you would recognize an emotion if it jumped up and bit you on the butt. I'm the one with all the EQ, remember?"

"197 doesn't have to bite my butt. I can see how he feels… Wait. That came out wrong. You do realize I'm a Harvard-trained, genius behaviorist, right?"

"As if you ever let any of us forget," Happy muttered sotto voce earning her a raised eyebrow from her husband.

"Aaaaanyway… As I was saying before Mrs. Buttinski chimed in…"

"Doesn't that make you _Mr_. Buttinski?" Paige bared her teeth in a smile that was all sarcastic innocence.

Toby talked right over the question. " _Again_ , I'm a genius behaviorist. Trust me when I tell you your hubby shows no markers of having chemistry with the chemist."

"I don't remember you picking up on Flo having the hots for him either. But that happened, didn't it? Anyway. Doesn't matter. Go away."

"Are you going to get yourself ready for take off if we leave you alone?" Happy squinted at Paige beadily.

The former waitress turned unwilling astronaut pushed at Happy's backside with her feet in an attempt to make her interfering friend get off the cot. "Fine. Okay. Happy Now?"

"I was born Happy."

"Good one!" Toby flashed an ornery grin at Paige while the 'Happy' couple executed a perfect No-Look-High-Five.

Paige was not amused. "Great. Now go. I gotta pee and get dressed and I don't need an audience for either activity, thank you."

oOoOoOoOoOo

For a person who normally wouldn't allow herself to get bogged down in negative thoughts, Paige was having trouble finding the silver lining. Was it the prospect of leaving Earth and everything she'd ever known behind? Of course she was terrified by that thought, but she'd been afraid on some level during almost every one of Scorpion's more radical cases and she'd gotten through it and occasionally even thrived on it. Besides, she wouldn't dream of letting Ralph go without her. In addition, she knew her son's was one of the best scientific minds in the world, so she also realized preventing him from going would stymie Earth's best chance of survival. She'd accepted all of that. Mostly.

Paige stared at her haggard reflection in the latrine's spotty mirror. "Pull yourself together, Dineen," she told herself bracingly, jiggling the toothbrush hanging from her lips and staunchly ignoring the funny looks from the other women at the sinks next to hers.

She vigorously resumed brushing while her thoughts continued to race.

Was she still a Dineen? Or was she technically an 'O'Brien' now? She hadn't bothered to ask.

Truth be told, she'd hardly spoken to her 'husband' since 'the other woman' barged in on their lunch three days ago. In a show of flagrant immaturity, she'd kind of stormed away when _Flo_ tried to join them.

It's not like she was proud of it.

She'd simply taken as much she could be expected to tolerate. At least that's what she'd told herself at the time.

Guilt twisted her guts. Looks like she'd found the original source of her uncharacteristic negativity.

But Walter was her _ex boyfriend_. Emphasis on the EX. Was she secretly hoping this mission… this sham of a _marriage_ would somehow patch things up between them? Was she hoping they would work things out and get back together like they always had in the past? Then Flo's unexpected appearance dashed those dreams by proving Walter was, what, actually the number one fan of My Chemical Romance or something?

Ah, hell.

There it was. The unvarnished truth.

Paige rinsed her toothbrush and her mouth. She only wished she could wash away her feelings for Walter as easily, but they lingered stubbornly like the strong mint flavor of the toothpaste.

Enough was too much! He could have _her._ They were welcome to each other. Paige almost made herself believe it. For all of ten seconds. Or not at all.

She rolled up her toiletry bag into her pajamas, jamming them under an arm. Firmly deciding 'Fake It Til You Make It' was her new motto, she exited the bathroom with her chin held high.

So high she wasn't looking where she was going and ran into something, or rather some _one_ , solid right outside the door.

"Paige! Fancy running into you here." Sylvester's big hands grasped her by the elbows to steady her.

She was so glad to see him she felt the sting of tears. She dropped the bundle under her arm when she went to hug him tight. He always gave the best hugs.

"Hey. Everything alright?" He asked.

"As alright as it can be when my whole world has been turned on its ear and I'm about to be launched into space. You?"

He shrugged. "Same. I was coming to see if you'd eat breakfast with me."

Paige narrowed suspicious eyes at him. "Did Toby and Happy send you to check on me?"

"No? Okay, sort of. But I also thought you'd be the one person freaking out about this launch nearly as much as me. I was seeking solidarity too."

She felt a genuine smile spread over her face. "In that case, you're on. Lemme ditch my pj's real quick and I'll catch up with you."

Up to this point Paige had been eating most of her meals alone in a quiet corner. The geniuses she knew – the ones she wasn't currently giving the silent treatment, that is - were all scrambling every minute trying to get everything ready, so they didn't have a lot of time for meal breaks. The ones she didn't know were still treating her like an outsider even though she'd tried making a few amiable gestures and polite overtures. In the end she'd found a 'nerd table' that was part way obscured by the buffet line and she'd been sitting there. How unexpected to be considered the nerd among a bunch of nerds. Needless to say, it was very nice to sit across from a friendly face for once.

"So how are you holding up, Sly? This must be really tough on you." Paige asked sympathetically. She blew over her steaming mug of coffee, listening aptly.

"Oh, you know. Months of recirculated air filled with germs and other people's flatulence. Going to a hostile place where no human has set foot since 1972. Exploring an alien structure probably packed to bursting with unknown pathogens that could cause an instant pandemic if we're exposed. And you know I _love_ flying. Other than that, I'm good." He picked up a piece of bacon and sniffed at it before returning it to the plate.

Paige chuckled. "I know what you mean. I didn't sign up for this either. It just kinda happened. We're gonna make it. We always do."

The mathematician nodded somewhat doubtfully as he smeared grape jelly on his toast. "Florence told me she saw you."

She resisted the urge to cringe or make a face. "Are you okay with her going?"

"Yes. We've talked about things. It was a little awkward at first. But it's Florence, so awkward comes with the territory." They shared a knowing smile. "I take it you're _not_ okay with it?"

"I want to say I don't care…"

"But you'd be lying."

Sly gave her an understanding look then they both ate in companionable silence for a few moments.

"Are things better with you and Walter now?" Paige couldn't say why, but she sincerely hoped the two men had made up.

Sylvester crunched into his toast and chewed thoughtfully. "It's a little hard to stay mad at someone after they save your life. Again. And the kicker was, he had no expectation whatsoever that I would forgive him or even talk to him. He just wanted me to be included because he cares about me and wants me to survive. No strings. How 'bout that? But if you're asking if we apologized for what we said to each other, we did. Eventually. You taught us well. It was easy after that. I might've even cried a little." He smiled ruefully into his orange juice then took a healthy gulp, grimacing slightly when the sugary jelly made it taste sour.

Paige was relieved for both of their sakes. She scooped up a spoonful of semi-soggy bran flakes, striving not to notice he was studying her closely.

He finally said, "Don't get mad. I'm not trying to interfere or anything. But I want you to consider something."

'Uh, oh. Here it comes,' she thought.

"Walter worked to get Florence in on the mission. He did. Because he wants to save everyone. He didn't want anyone he knows left behind if possible. That's typical. What's not typical is the way he was acting demented for days, scarcely eating or sleeping, driving us all nuts and wracking his not-inconsiderable brain doing everything he could to find any excuse to get you here with Ralph. In the end he was willing to _marry_ you to achieve that goal. Florence isn't wearing his ring and neither am I. Please just think about that."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Because she was trying her hardest _not_ to think about the impending launch, Paige thought about what Sylvester said as she repacked her clothes. She thought about it when she stripped her cot and dropped the linens off at the laundry truck. She thought about it while she took a last look around the barracks to see if she'd missed anything.

So Walter made a habit of marrying people to solve problems. So what? He'd married Happy to keep from being deported. It didn't mean a thing.

But he hadn't been 'demented for days' trying to work out a solution to his immigration issues, had he?

"Paige?"

Walter's voice at her elbow startled her, making her jump. Think of the devil...

"Hey," she answered, playing it off casual as if her insides weren't all jittery and her breakfast wasn't threatening to reappear.

"Is your bag ready to be loaded?"

"Oh, um, sure. I-I think. I keep wondering if I've forgotten something important. Like maybe I should've packed Ralph's baby pictures or my grandmother's quilt," she laughed nervously. "It's not like I'll be able to run back home and pick them up if-if…"

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you can safely come back for those things one day soon. In the meantime, try not to worry."

Walter gave her a wan smile as he picked up her suitcase and hefted it to the van. She shuffled after him in a daze.

"Hey, where's Ralph?" She asked. The boy had been with Walter every waking minute for the last couple of days because they'd both been working non-stop to get ready to launch, rechecking and tweaking the programming over and over.

The older genius smirked at the question. "Where do you think? Once they let him inside, he wasn't leaving that shuttle until he'd explored every inch."

"He may not feel the same after a few months." Paige's reply sounded more dejected than she intended.

He didn't bother contradicting her because they both knew it was true.

Walter handed their bags to the waiting driver to be loaded with the rest and they both clambered up into the van. As they slowly rolled closer and the shuttle grew larger and larger in front of them, taking up more and more of the view out the windshield, Paige resisted the urge to bang on the doors and windows to be let out. She fought the almost overwhelming desire to walk with the sunshine beating down on her head surrounded by the smell of hot asphalt and baking earth. She didn't want to ever forget the experience just in case.

Seeing Walter's hand resting between them on the seat, she threaded her fingers through his instead.


	5. Space

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: For those of you asking, Cabe finally makes an appearance in this chapter. And I'm not done with him yet. ;-)**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

There was a small crowd of people gathered behind a barrier a safe distance away from the launch site. As Paige and Walter waited their turns to be fitted with helmets and other gear, he keenly searched each face.

A few seconds later, he shook his head and she heard him sigh, "Cabe," just before he broke away from the line and trotted over toward the fence. She was in no hurry to board, so she hesitated only a moment before following him.

The Homeland Agent saw them and veered around the barricade, flashing his badge when the guards gave him menacing looks.

"Cabe!" Paige embraced the older man, squeezing him tightly before releasing him. She saw her own delighted smile reflected back at her from his token aviator shades as well as in the expression on his face.

He slapped Walter heartily on the back. "How you guys holding up? You ready for this?"

Before Paige could answer, Walter bluntly asked, "What are you doing here?"

If Cabe was taken aback by his tone, he hid it well. "I came to see you kids off, that's all. I already said my goodbyes to Happy and…"

"I told you not to come."

"Walter!" Paige admonished.

"It's okay," the agent said gently, "I know you did. But did you really think I was going to let you guys do something this historic and not see you on your way?"

Walter glowered. "It isn't okay."

"Son, you did everything you could. I know you did. Even a smart guy like you can't make me younger. I'm fine staying here with Allie. We'll wait this thing out together. I have faith in you. In the team. You'll fix this and come back and we'll all have a good laugh about it. The whole family will have a big party at the garage like old times. You'll see."

The genius was clenching his jaw stubbornly while his eyes went bright with unshed tears. He could only nod brusquely in response.

Walter turned and started to walk away but then abruptly changed directions. He came back, hugged Cabe briefly then jogged off in the direction of the shuttle again.

"So, he tried to get you a place on the shuttle too?" Paige asked unnecessarily, her heart aching, as they both watched him go.

"Yes. But there was no way they were ever going to agree to take me. It didn't matter what strings he pulled or what arguments he used. If this goes wrong, you gotta promise me you'll look after him, alright? I know things ended badly between you, but he needs you now. If you ever cared about him, and I know you did, please keep in mind he'll need you even more if he's not able to stop this."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Walter's eyes still harbored that lost look even after they were securely strapped into their seats. Her empathy for him made Paige forget she was petrified and wanting to run as fast as she could down the ramp and throw herself prostrate onto terra firma. She pulled her oxygen mask to one side so she could be heard while the flight crew was announcing last minute systems checks.

"Hey." She nudged his arm. "Look at me. You know that Cabe doesn't blame you, right? He knows there are limits. Even for you."

Tearing his own mask off, he replied dismissively, "I'm _fine_. Concentrate on Sly. This is difficult for him in ways I can't begin to understand."

The countdown flashed _ten_ on all the computer screens.

Paige ignored the display as well as Walter's command. "All of us have people we're leaving behind. It couldn't be helped. It's _not_ your fault."

It steadily flashed _seven_. Then _six_.

He looked down, blinking rapidly as a muscle worked in his jaw. "Ray…" he cleared his throat, "there was no excuse I could think of to-to include him…"

"There's not much excuse for him anyway." His head snapped up at her comment. Their eyes met and he answered her teasing grin with a crooked half-smile of his own.

Walter took a shuddering breath. "My-my parents don't even know…" He shook his head harshly. "Failure of phase one is not an option. That's all."

 _Two_. _One_.

The engines fired with a deafening roar and the shuttle shook with earthquake force. They both hurriedly snapped the oxygen masks back in place and Paige slammed her eyes shut, saying a hurried prayer as her heart knocked against her ribs as if trying to escape. As the rumbling and noise continued to increase, she released her white-knuckled grip on the armrests and reached out on both sides, fumbling around sightless, to first grab Ralph's then Walter's hands. Their reciprocated tight grasps gave her the courage to peel open her eyes, and as the pressure of the lift-off pinned her completely to the seat, she rocked her head side to side and saw her son's other hand clasping Sylvester's to her left and Walter's clutching Happy's and she held Toby's on her right. They formed a united human chain, re-forged by the terrifying adversity they had already faced and all they would face ahead. Together again as it should be.

oOoOoOoOoOo

After the soul-freezing fear during the launch and the awe of the most indescribably breath-stealing views of Earth she'd ever seen, followed by the giddy silliness of floating around weightless for the first hour or so, Paige was finding space travel kind of, well, boring. It seemed everyone else had a place to go, some essential job they needed to do, leaving her to sit, still strapped to her chair, gazing out a porthole window at the countless pinpricks of stars piercing the thick, cold blackness pressing in on all sides of the shuttle.

Eventually a harassed-looking person approached, pulling herself one-handed along a pipe near the ceiling. The woman's aqua-tipped, black hair floated around her pink-tinged cheeks while her perceptive eyes consulted a tablet that was strapped to her arm.

"I wish they'd get the stupid gravity simulator up and running," she complained to herself before addressing Paige shortly. "You Paige O'Brien?"

Startled more than a little by the unaccustomed last name, she stared for a minute, likely looking like a drooling dimwit, before replying. "Oh, uh, yes. That's-that's me," she responded a bit breathlessly.

Suddenly a loud buzzing erupted all around them and everything began vibrating. The other person warned, "Brace yourself!"

The girl's feet slammed to the floor and she barely caught herself on the back of the chair before she stumbled and fell into Paige. "'Bout time," she muttered straightening back up. Then she addressed Paige again as if nothing important had just occurred. "I'm Mei, the ship's linguist. And since we have multiple mother languages being both written and spoken on board, I was tasked with finding everyone and giving them their berth assignments. In multiple translations. Lucky me. This all shoulda been done ages ago, but it kinda got pushed to end of the list of priorities due to time constraints. Let me see. You and your husband and son…" She swiped a finger down the screen, "are on Aft Deck E. Suite 7C. Mostly English speakers in that suite. You'll thank me when things jam up and you have to share a bathroom. You're welcome. Your luggage is stored in the common area closet under the netting. All the ladders have maps next to the egresses."

"Sorry, but which way is aft?"

Mei obviously thought Paige was a dolt. At least that's what the look on her face was screaming. "Where it's always been. Toward the rear of the vessel."

Trying not to rise to the implied insult, Paige asked patiently, "Have you located my son and my… h-husband yet?"

Mei glanced at her list and sighed gustily. "Not yet."

"I can track them down if it'll help." Plus, she would love an excuse to poke around and explore like she'd been dying to do.

"That'd be great," Mei's hassled expression lightened marginally. "You should start looking on Deck B. That's where all the labs and computer equipment are housed." She turned and left, striding with purpose in the opposite direction of the way she came in, all of her laser focus once again on the tablet.

Glad the artificial gravity appeared to be working at last, Paige unbuckled herself and made her way toward the aft ladder, quickly deciding to locate the bunks first before trying to find Walter and Ralph. There were only six decks in total, according to the map. The bottom two seemed to be reserved for sleeping quarters.

Her quest didn't take long. She easily found Suite 7 almost midway down Deck E's one skinny and stark white corridor. No sweat. Until she tried to open the door. There was no knob. She tried pushing with her palm. She tried shoving with her shoulder. In the end she ended up kicking it. The only reward for her effort was an acutely stubbed toe as the metal door remained stubbornly closed.

"Oh, um, it's a thumbprint scanner. See? To your right there."

Great. Just what she needed when she was already biting her tongue trying not to turn the air blue by howling every blasphemous word in her repertoire while the echoes cursed back at her as they bounced off the walls. And the cherry on top of the whole crap sundae? To be caught both looking and acting severely stupid by none other than…

Florence.

Somehow the woman's presence had slipped Paige's mind during the panic of the launch. And now, like a recurring nightmare, here she was. Fan-damn-tastic.

"Thanks," Paige mumbled ungratefully as she pressed her thumb to the scanner. What do you know? The door popped right open. Perfect.

"May I come in? I'd like to talk to you if that's okay."

 _Would you go away if I said it wasn't okay_? She mentally lectured at herself to grow up as she stepped around the bulkhead and gestured for Flo to enter after her. She was suddenly reminded of how frustrated she was at Walter for the way he'd treated Tim.

"I'd offer you something to drink, but I don't know where anything is yet," Paige joked, trying to come off more hospitable than hostile like she felt.

"If you'd like, I could show you how to use the dispensers…"

Paige shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'm good." She seriously just wanted Flo to say what was on her mind and go. She managed to stop herself before she expressed the thought. You could take the liaison out of Scorpion, but you couldn't take the liaison out of the girl. Or something to that effect.

Florence shifted uncomfortably. "We must find a way to work together. No matter how unpleasant it is for you. I know you have reason to be… angry with me and I'd like to apologize. I probably should've kept my… I threw gasoline on the fire when I said... what I did. That wasn't my intention. I feel terrible about the demise of Scorpion and I'm sorry for my part in it."

"Well, we all had our special parts to play that day, didn't we? Including me." Wow. That was the first time she'd admitted as much out loud.

"Okay, then." The little chemist gave a jerky nod and pivoted toward the door as if to leave.

Pity pierced Paige's tough facade. The woman couldn't help how she felt. She shouldn't be blamed for it. After all, Paige had wrestled with her own feelings for Walter for years and she'd never really won any ground back. "Stop. Florence, hang on a sec…"

Her eyes were welling with tears and she was biting her lip when she turned back around making Paige feel worse.

"Let's, uh, sit a minute." Paige finally took a quick glance around the bare, compact room. There were several folding chairs welded to the floor, she indicated one to Florence and took the seat beside it.

Before she could offer her own apology, Flo jumped in, "Just so you know, there was never anything going on between me and Walter. Not ever. In fact, we never did anything socially after that one outing. Even after everyone left. Not lunch or-or anything. And we worked together for less than five weeks before he got called away to this assignment. It was all very hush-hush. I didn't know where he was. During his absence, I thought about everything. And I concluded that my feelings for him were wrapped up in a mutual admiration of scientific abilities. And... the novelty of having a group of friends with similar interests. It was his dream that got me thinking about it..."

Wow. Parallel universe. It was the stupid dream that made Paige think of it too. And she'd over-reacted so badly to that dream, had it made it harder for Walter to approach her with the truth?

Florence kept speaking, unaware of Paige's sudden epiphany. "...to begin with. It probably wouldn't've occurred to me otherwise."

"Look, I'm sorry too. Truth is, I've been blaming you this whole time, but yours was only one small part of everything that went wrong. How about let's call a truce and move forward from here?"

"Agreed. I-I valued your friendship and I'd like to win it back if possible. To start, I promise not to be alone with Walter again."

Paige chuckled. "First of all I don't have the right to ask that of you. Second, I'm not sure that'll be a problem on this mission. I don't think there's enough room to have a lot of privacy around here." It occurred to her it didn't really worry her for Flo and Walter to be alone. Deep down she knew nothing physical had gone or ever would go on between them. Huh. Look at that. She trusted him. Had she simply been hurt that the other woman had connected to Walter in a way she couldn't? Interesting. Sure, she'd been angry about the deception, but did it all really boil down to petty jealousy? "I'd like to be your friend too. I haven't always treated you kindly. I hope you'll give me another shot."

"Of course." The corners of Florence's lips quirked up in a fleeting smile. Paige opened her arms, hoping to finally catch Flo in a hug this time.

"I must get back to the lab now." She stood up abruptly and strode out the door.

Paige was left hanging once again as the door slid shut.

Back to her original mission, then. There wasn't much to see in the small, square common area apart from the folding chairs against three of the walls and what looked like two vending machines against the fourth. Doors, presumably to the sleeping quarters were evenly spaced between the chairs. It was easy enough to find the door marked with a big black 'C'. Since she was already on the lookout for the thumbprint scanner, she had no trouble getting in. Thank you, Flo.

Whoa. Nothing like the 'suite' they had that one time in Vegas, then.

The entry was only just big enough for one average-sized person to stand if they didn't move too much. Directly in front of her from there, was a half bath with a toilet and sink crammed so tightly together there was hardly room for a person to maneuver around them. There were no cabinets and only one shelf. The door was metal and louvered, so there wasn't even a place to put a hook. And where the hell was the shower stall?

To the right was a tiny room that was wall-to-wall bed. Nothing else would fit and the only storage was under the bed which was about half the width of a twin. Ralph's room, Paige presumed. She just hoped it wouldn't stunt his growth to sleep in there.

To the left she found a slightly larger room with a miniature desk and a futon sofa that folded out into a bed. Was she supposed to share this room with her 'husband'?

Oh, boy.

Nothing awkward about that at all.

" _Warning! Life Support Malfunction!_ "

The robotic voice boomed through the ship's speakers, startling Paige. Red strobe lights flashed somewhere near the low ceiling in each room and a siren wailed. What exactly did it mean, and what was she supposed to do now? There was a loud humming noise, and a silvery mist began to gush from the vents.

" _Warning! Life Support Malfunction!_ "

They'd been given a briefing when they'd boarded. Think, think, _think,_ damn it! She urged her brain to remember what she was told. It was no use. She'd been too preoccupied and scared to pay close attention.

" _Warning! Life Support Malfunction!_ "

Of course she'd left her backpack on B Deck under her chair. I contained a laminated instruction booklet that would tell her what to do as well as her personal safety equipment. She recalled that much, at least. The walls seemed to undulate before her eyes.

" _Warning! Life Support Malfunction!_ "

She started to feel too warm and more than a little woozy. She needed to get to her safety gear.

" _Warning! Life Support Malfunction!_ "

Paige staggered out of the berth into the common area. She knew she needed to retrieve something from another deck but she couldn't quite place what it was. Her knees gave out and she collapsed onto the hard ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Her eyes and her lungs were on fire as she fruitlessly gasped for air. She crawled and dragged herself toward the door. The scanner was already engulfed in the pearly fog emanating from above.

" _Warning! Life Support Malfunction!_ "

The robot voice sounded very far away…


	6. Insert

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: This story is turning into a bona fide novella. We're gonna be here a while. Hope you'll hang in there with me. For those of you dying for Waige, remember: Patience is a virtue and it will** **be rewarded. ;-)**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

It felt like the alien threat migrated to the inside of her skull and was trying to claw and kick its way out. She heard voices but they came through all warped and distorted, gabbling nonsense and egging on that stupid alien in her head to kick harder. She gasped and opened her eyes. She only wanted to make those idiots shut up.

"She's coming around!"

Walter's worried eyes were gazing into hers. His dark-haired head was blurry and surrounded by an iridescent halo. If this was heaven, Paige hated to think what hell must be like.

Angel Walter smiled at her and blinked. Had his eyes always been so kind? "You're going to be alright. That's it. Just breathe deeply."

Maybe heaven wasn't so bad. She shut her eyes and inhaled. It was miraculous. She did begin to feel better. Gentle fingers brushed across her temple then stroked through the hair above her ear. The throbbing pressure in her skull started to abate.

When she looked up again, a medic she didn't know adjusted the oxygen mask on her face and shined a light into her eyes. The light felt like a laser burning through all the way to her retinas. She winced and turned her head. He said something in a guttural-sounding language she couldn't identify.

Walter answered, "Um, my Farsi's a little rusty."

The guy switched to broken English albeit with a thick accent. Paige still couldn't understand, but Walter appeared to get the gist, because he responded with, "I'll watch her and let you know if anything changes."

The two men shook hands.

"Thanks," Walter added as an afterthought. The man moved toward the door waving an acknowledgement as he went.

"Ralph?" Paige croaked as she tried sitting up. The room whirled, making her nauseated. She grasped the side of her pounding head as Walter assisted her to a chair.

"Oh, um, he's fine. He's with Toby helping look for and revive other crew members," He smiled like any proud father would. It was too damn cute. It was also a weird thing to notice when she felt like yesterday's dog poop. But notice it she did. Whatever she was exposed to must've scrambled her brains.

Paige coughed. "Happy and Sly?"

"Fine. They're running diagnostics with… uh, Florence." He looked away, the smile slipping from his face, his expression turning equal parts ashamed and fretful. "She-she was the one responsible for telling me where to find you," he hurried to add.

The poor guy was afraid to admit being anywhere near the chemist, thanks to her. "What happened?" She rasped, forcing the words through her raw throat.

He held up one finger then left her momentarily, walking quickly across the room to the dispenser. He pressed his thumb to the scanner and retrieved a pouch of water. He broke the seal and handed it to her.

Paige pushed the mask down and off and took a grateful sip, then a gulp. The cool water felt incredibly soothing. "What happened?" She repeated more clearly.

"Put your mask back on when you're through," he ordered brusquely, setting a pack with a portable oxygen tank in her lap. Then he sighed and explained, "We don't really know how it happened. Yet. But hydrochloric acid along with nitrous oxide leached into one of the breathable air supply tanks. We isolated the problem pretty quickly, but we're not certain how many other reservoirs might be contaminated as well. All of them are being tested now. Why didn't you have your backpack with you? We're supposed to keep them with us at all times."

"I forgot…"

"Well, you can't! This isn't like Earth, Paige. Humans weren't made to survive out here. Anything could've happened!" Walter barked. He began to pace around in agitation. Paige felt her dizziness returning as she watched him. "You can't be careless and-and take those kinds of risks…"

She put a hand on his arm as he passed. "Stop. Please, stop. I'm sorry. Okay? I won't let it happen again. I promise."

"Okay." He nodded, but he still looked plenty concerned.

It was her turn to study him. "What is it? What else is bothering you?"

"Nothing. I just want you to be more careful. That's it." His shifted his weight nervously, staring at the floor between his shoes.

"Really, Walter? You're trying to conceal the truth from me again, aren't you? Because I can see it written all over your face." She left the oxygen mask dangling around her neck uselessly just to annoy him.

He glowered at her, but at least he was looking her in the eye when he replied, "No. That was a hard lesson to learn, but you taught it well. I'm simply confused about when I should use a 'white lie' – another concept I tried to learn from you and never quite grasped – in order to protect you. I guess I'll always be too immature for that one."

Paige cringed inwardly. Touche. "I was wrong. I admit that. First I told you I couldn't tolerate lying. Then I told you to lie to me. It's no wonder you were confused. But let's assume I want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in this case. Lay it on me. What's really going on here? You can trust me."

Walter hesitated for a moment, considering.

"I-I know I can trust you. That's not it. The real reason I didn't want to say anything is, at this point, I only have suspicions and I didn't want to upset you needlessly." He dropped down into the chair beside hers and his shoulders relaxed as if he was relieved to be able to unburden himself. He leaned close enough toward her that his breath was stirring the little hairs around her ear making her shiver. He continued quietly. "I don't think it was an accident."

He pulled away to allow his worried gaze to catch hers again. Still speaking softly, he went on, "Scorpion isn't in charge here. I didn't check those canisters myself. But a genius engineer designed the life support systems with the counsel of a certain genius physician we both know. Those two wouldn't have made a mistake this big. No way."

"Is it possible something got mixed up accidentally?"

"Not likely." He shook his head. "And I think the ultimate target is bigger and this incident was meant to do more extensive damage than a few people passing out with minor burns to their corneas and respiratory tracts."

"What do you mean?"

His eyes darted around like he was searching for eavesdroppers. As if on cue, the door slid open and a couple stumbled inside from the hallway. The man was leaning heavily on the woman, both emitting muffled hacking noises from behind their masks.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?" Paige asked them.

"We're fine. Or we will be once we get some water down," the woman answered with a slightly clipped Aussie accent. She helped her companion to a seat and got them each a pouch from the dispenser. She spoke soothingly to the man with a hand on his back, encouraging him to remove his mask and take a few sips.

Walter gave Paige a pointed look and said, "How about you show me our berth now?"

"Excuse us," she said to the other couple and quickly followed Walter out of the room.

Paige noticed right away there wasn't nearly enough room for both of them to stand in the micro entry to their quarters, especially with the bulk of their backpacks taking up any excess space. She could feel his body heat and it was making hers ratchet up. She awkwardly side-stepped and he followed her into the room with the futon. They both sat at the exact same time, then sitting hip-to-hip, they stared at each other for a long minute.

"It's kind of small, isn't it?" He huffed out an embarrassed laugh. "If-if, uh, you're bothered by it, I want you to know I plan to sleep up in the lab. Um, mostly."

"Oh, I didn't even think about it," she lied, then laughed to cover up the fact she'd gained absolutely no consolation from his reassurance.

"Anyway…" She prompted after another uncomfortable moment, "You were saying? About the bigger target?"

His expression was back to all business when he replied, "As you know, we have limited resources due to limited storage. Plus, in the interest of conserving fuel, we kept weight to a minimum. Almost everything we brought has multiple uses. For example, the plants in the botany lab are serving several purposes. Not only are we planning to use them for food at some point, currently they are being utilized to filter gray water as well as to help filter the carbon dioxide out of the re-circulated air. Hydrochloric acid is just as toxic to plants as it is to people. The ventilation system distributed the tainted air equally throughout the shuttle. If those plants die, it could significantly decrease our water and air stores, making our plans for Mars improbable if not completely impossible at this point."

Walter paused for a minute, giving her time to absorb the full impact of what he'd disclosed, then he went on, "The combination of chemicals struck me as odd too. Nitrous oxide was included in the mixture. It's often utilized in dentists' offices to give the patient a sense of euphoria to alleviate anxiety. It's better known as 'laughing gas'. I think it was intended to sedate and confuse the crew to keep them from identifying and stopping the bulk of the damage. It was pure chance the botanist was in her lab and had the wherewithal to immediately close the vents before the dizziness set in. She was due at a status update meeting, but had to go back for her laptop."

"Who would want to do this?" Paige asked, shocked, "They'd have to be on the ship with us. Wouldn't they be signing their own death warrant in the process?"

"Right now I can't confirm this was done on purpose, let alone guess at a motive. History is full of people going on suicide missions for all kinds of reasons." He shrugged. "That might be what we're dealing with here, but that's little more than conjecture as well. All the same, we'll need to be extra vigilant. Keep your eyes and ears open. Watch out for anything that doesn't seem right. And be sure you keep your safety gear on your person at all times."

Walter soon returned to the lab when more people started pouring into the suite to recover from after-effects. Paige spent an hour or so assisting where she could. The good news was, she figured out pretty quickly how to use the dispensers. The bad news? She didn't realize the supplies were rationed before she'd already run through her own daily supply of water by giving it away to others in need. No one told her and no one offered to pay her back with some of their own rations either. She always liked to avoid jumping to conclusions, but she couldn't help suspecting these people might be hazing her on purpose.

Oh, well. Live and learn.

If she survived the first day in space at all, that is.

oOoOoOoOoOo

A thirsty but wiser Paige did survive that first day. Then the next. She kept herself busy getting to know the ship and purposely trying to ingratiate herself with the other passengers without much success. Being well-liked had never been an issue for her before. These people scarcely tolerated her. And it wasn't a cultural or language barrier issue either. Even among the Western, English speakers, she was an outcast.

It was bizarre.

When she'd enter a room, oftentimes a sudden hush would fall and she would feel the weight of several acrimonious stares. It felt like she needed to apologize for some grievous wrong she didn't know she'd committed. More than once she'd overheard the words 'Mrs. Universe' and 'Princess Useless' in stage whispers, usually followed by tittering laughter.

Her friends weren't around very often and when they were, they weren't very helpful. She never saw Walter. He stayed ensconced in the laboratory doing heaven knew what every minute of the day and night. Her loving boy, Ralph patted her hand and told her she would eventually fit in. Paige couldn't quite tell if he was being snarky or not. Toby asked her if she'd ever struggled with paranoia in the past. Happy offered to kick some ass. Sylvester welcomed her to his entire middle and high school experience.

She was even desperate enough by the afternoon of the second day to catch Florence and ask her about it. The chemist couldn't offer any insight, however. She said she was too busy to notice any difference in how anyone was being treated. She advised Paige not to let it bother her. But it did.

Is this what all of her nerds had endured growing up? It sucked worse than she'd imagined.

On the morning of the third day, when she was once again being snubbed in the hallways, Paige decided she'd had all she was going to endure. She climbed up to B deck and waited by the restricted-access passage' s locked door until someone with clearance came by and opened it. She hurriedly pushed past the confused white coat clad scientist, found the electronics partition and marched down the bank of computers until she spied a familiar head of dark, curly hair. She made a beeline for Walter's station.

He was concentrating so hard he jumped when she tapped him on the shoulder.

"We need to talk." Oops. That sounded harsher than she planned.

The whole lab erupted in loud, "Ooooooooooo"s. All prying eyes watched while every nosy face wore a sardonic smirk.

"What's the problem?" Paige snapped to the entire room at large, extremely tired of the loads of attitude she'd been receiving lately. She was close to the end of her tether with these people.

Walter stood, grabbed her by the elbow, spun her around and practically dragged her back outside into the corridor. By that time she was furious.

Paige was about to let him have it with both barrels until she noticed how run down Walter looked. He was completely exhausted, that much was obvious. His hollow eyes were blood-shot and sported dark rings underneath.

He scratched at the two day growth of beard stubble and asked impatiently. "What is it? I really need to get back."

"Everybody hates me," she blabbed, not meaning to sound like a pouty teen. It just happened.

He sighed in exasperation. "Believe it or not, we have bigger problems than that."

"Can we go somewhere and sit? You look like you're about to fall down."

Clenching his teeth for a second as if to hold back an angry retort, he finally answered with a brisk nod. "Okay."

He took off in the direction of the bench at the end of the corridor. Once there, he flopped down unceremoniously and watched her catch up to him, wearing an expression of resigned expectation.

Paige joined him shortly and did her best to temper her words. "Walter, I'm not being a diva. These people really don't like me. Is there something I need to know?"

He made pained face. "Maybe?"

"Well?" She urged.

"There were two hundred spots on this mission for young, science-savvy people of higher than normal intelligence. Everyone here serves a specific purpose. Most of us have more than one function. There are a few other married couples, but in every other case _both_ are scientists. Not to mention, there are a total of two hundred… and _one_ people aboard." Walter cringed.

Paige dragged her hand down her face to temporarily cover her mouth before letting it drop to her lap. "I see. So, I'm only here for decoration. And to take up room and use up scarce resources. That explains a lot."

"You haven't been threatened, have you?"

"No. Just treated like a leper."

"Fun fact about leprosy. It really isn't that contagious…" the genius trailed off when he caught her glare. He studied her face as if looking for clues. "Sorry. I don't know what you want me to do. Do you want me to fix your problem this time or are you only venting?"

"Give me an occupation, Walter. I'm not a person who is used to sitting idle anyway. If I could contribute in some meaningful way, maybe the other crew members would start to accept me. Plus, this whole mission is already becoming tedious. I've figured out the lay of the ship and I've memorized the safety manual. C'mon. There has to be some grunt work that doesn't require a greater than 150 IQ. Help a girl out here."

Walter's brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "By tonight we'll be entering our orbit around the moon. There are many routine checks you could perform on the rover and it would take some of the burden off of the engineers and the first landing party. Let me see what I can do."

She would have to be satisfied with that for the time being.


	7. Paige Up

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: In lieu of a new Scorpion episode, here's a new chapter just for you. Happy Monday! A million thanks to those who leave comments and reviews. They mean the world!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"How 'bout you shut your filthy mouths!"

The two South American mechanical experts, who were running engine diagnostics, stopped talking and peered up at Paige, their protective goggles making them resemble Bubble Eye fish.

"That's right. I'm American _and_ I'm fluent in two languages. Unfortunately for you, one of them is Espa _n_ ol."

While they looked at her in astonishment, she switched to Spanish and said, "What you're suggesting is not possible with your equipment. Trust me. Size matters."

The mechanics scurried away shoving at each other, snickering and leering back at her over their shoulders like a couple of adolescent boys. Happy passed them coming into the bay as they were leaving.

"Are those two giving you a hard time?" She asked, sounding casual. However, Paige could see her friend was morphing into protective, crouching-tiger mode.

"I guess sexual harassment is the same in all languages. Who knew?" Paige shrugged, trying to play down the disgusting comments and diffuse the tension. She'd heard worse when she was a waitress, after all, and she needed Happy's undivided attention. "I'm fine. I handled it."

"You need a hand?" Happy grabbed the last case of protein supplement bars and lifted them up the stepladder to her.

"Perfect time to ask," Paige jested, "I'm almost done here."

She'd been inventorying rations and stocking dispensers in the rover for most of the afternoon. After carefully arranging the rest of the bars in place, she tossed the box to the ground and stepped down.

"Then what'd you call me for? I'm kinda busy what with the whole achieving orbit and sending this lander to the lunar surface thing."

"I get it. Everybody is busy and on edge. But Walter asked me to report stuff that doesn't seem right. And I saw something."

"So why isn't O'Brien's butt down here checking it out?"

Paige chose to ignore the comment, because she'd recently resolved not to think or say things like 'check it out' and 'O'Brien's butt' in the same sentence. It wasn't easy. Maybe there was a support group she could join or something.

She moved the ladder a few feet to the left and unlocked the hatch used for refilling the water dispenser. She motioned for Happy to climb up beside her and she pointed her penlight down the chute. "Do you see what I mean?"

"I don't see jack…" Jostling a bit for position, the little engineer snatched the light out of Paige's hand and, standing on tiptoes, stuck her head farther inside. Her surprised "What the hell?!" reverberated loudly around their ears.

"The wall of the rocket fuel reservoir is warped and bulging into this hatch. Look at it! It's thinned to the point, if it survived through the first burn during landing at all, it would burst and we'd never be able to take off and re-dock with the shuttle in orbit. And that's _best_ case. Worst case? Kaboom! Holy shit!"

Happy stood back up and scrambled down the ladder. She sprinted over, tapped the intercom on the wall and yelled, "O'Brien! Get your ass down here, pronto! We got big problems!"

oOoOoOoOoOo

For a while, Paige let the geek speak drift over her head only catching the urgent tones and occasional snatches of words that her normal brain could translate.

"Yes, I could fix it. _If_ I had access to an industrial lathe and a week to dismantle and reassemble it…"

"Could you possibly shore up the weak spot with the materials on hand enough to increase the odds of a successful initial landing?"

"In theory? Yes. But you do realize it would be a one way trip," Happy cautioned.

That comment caused Paige to become fully aware, as did Walter's reply.

"No reason I couldn't go alone," he said, "I could do all the testing myself and send the data back to the respective experts for analyzing. They could tell me what to test for…"

"Excuse me? And after that? What? You just stay down there while we head for home without you?" Paige butted in, hoping Walter wasn't implying what it sounded like.

Two geniuses' heads simultaneously swiveled in her direction. They'd probably forgotten she was even there.

Happy readily agreed with Paige, however. "What you're purposing is insane."

"It's the most efficient method," Walter replied as if stating a random fact like 'the Earth is round'.

"No. Walter, _no_. Think of something else." Paige argued, a feeling of panic rising in her chest.

"You should listen to the waitress, boss," Happy threw in.

"I'm no longer your boss. And it's the only logical way," he explained as if they were both being deliberately slow.

"NO! I won't let you do this! You don't get to do everything in your power to save the ones you care about and try to stop us from doing the same thing! We've had this discussion before! You aren't only important to Earth and to this mission, you know. You can't do this to Ralph! He needs you! You matter to him. To _us_ … to-to me." Paige blinked back a surge of blinding tears when they blurred her view of his face. She took a shuddering breath.

His brow furrowed in confusion. Her eyes were fixed on his until she forgot anyone else was in the room. Or in the universe. It was only him. And her. And the abject terror at the thought of him sacrificing himself for the greater good while she would be forced to go back and live in a world without him in it.

"From now on…" her voice broke. Paige cleared her throat then continued bravely, "From now on, it's all of us or none of us. Got it?"

"Okay," he said in a small voice, still staring as if trying to decipher her.

"Technically we could land this whole sucker on the moon," Happy stated from the sidelines, breaking the spell. "There are plenty of empty areas for a decent runway."

" _If_ we could find a place big enough and near enough to the alien structure but far enough away it doesn't risk contamination. And _if_ the area we found was almost consistently flat without any craters. That's a lot of factors to consider."

"We've done more with less," Paige pointed out and Happy nodded in agreement.

"True. But once we're down there, how do you propose we lift off again? It would take more fuel than we have. Not to mention, we don't have a retractable launch pad large enough to raise the whole shuttle into a vertical position like the rover has. Unless you could devise something," Walter countered.

"Since it looks like 'Plan B' is drying up about as fast as most of the plant life in the botany lab, especially now with this lander set back, I could use the biodome materials to make some kind of launch pad. It may not be pretty, but I think I could make it work. And we could use the extra fuel we've reserved for the rover to launch the shuttle," Walter opened his mouth to protest, but Happy kept talking, "Keep in mind it won't require as much for lift off because the gravitational pull of the moon is so much less."

"It's a risk, but you do have a point. Both of you," he acknowledged. "The only thing is, you should understand, I'm not in charge here. I have to run all viable options by the captain. Ultimately, it's her decision."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Paige paced the hall outside of Captain Huang's office where Happy and Walter had disappeared twenty minutes before. It felt more like twenty hours. It was agony waiting to hear the decision.

Not to mention she wasn't accustomed to being closed out of important meetings. Since joining Scorpion years ago, she'd always been in the thick of it when things got real. Her opinions counted. Suddenly her input was considered immaterial? She wasn't even being allowed to present her side.

Surely the woman wouldn't send Walter by himself to the surface of the moon to be left with little hope of rescue. Neither option was a particularly good one, but what kind of person would send a man to die alone if there was a chance, no matter how small, to save everyone? Scorpion saves everyone.

But this wasn't Scorpion.

The idea of Walter left alone, isolated from everybody he cares about, watching while his stores of air, food and water slowly dwindle was more than Paige could stand.

Surely the captain wouldn't go that direction. Surely.

Her mind refused to entertain the possibility of losing Walter, because she knew her heart wouldn't survive it. Yes, they'd had problems. Yes, she'd been frustrated with him. Yes, she'd broken up with him, left him. But as long as he was breathing, as long as he was alive, she was too. And there was hope.

The door burst open. Walter and Happy came out wearing grave expressions.

Without a word or even a glance, Walter stalked away.

"What?" Paige caught Happy by the arm, frantic to end the suspense, but dreading the answer. "What did she say?"

Happy was definitely _un_ happy and visibly grinding her teeth in frustration. "The captain is weighing the options and she's going to consult a few other 'expert' opinions before making her final decision. In the meantime, we're supposed to twiddle our thumbs until she makes up her damn mind. She also got on every last one of Walt's nerves."

Paige smiled archly. "He's never been great with authority figures."

"You'd've been proud of him, though. He only smarted off a few times and only got accused of insubordination once. I think I might've acted worse. We needed you in there to keep it civil."

The cold dread returned, clenching in Paige's stomach. "When will we know?"

"She's supposed to tell us some time after we've safely established orbit. Walter went to find Sly and Ralph. While he's waiting to hear, she tasked him with analyzing pictures to locate some potential places for the shuttle to land and calculating trajectory and coordinates. Her stupid delay is costing us valuable time and, by sending us in separate directions, wasting manpower too. We need to get down to that base and inspect it sooner rather than later." Happy's mouth tightened into a grim line, "For now, I'm supposed to find a way to strengthen the bulging fuel tank wall using the equivalent of cardboard, duct tape and bubble gum."

"Can I help?" Paige inquired hopefully. She seriously needed to stay busy.

"Nah. It's a one woman job."

With that, Happy left her standing in the hallway feeling even more superfluous than ever.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Ralph, it's been _three days_. Four if you count the first evening in orbit," Paige whined to her son, begging for answers. "Is there any word yet?"

Paige had spent the majority of those three days scrubbing tubs and hoses in the hydroponics lab as well as testing and recording PH and chlorine levels in water. Florence told her in passing that Dr. Kristjanssen in botany was overwhelmed with attempts to salvage what was left of the plant life. He'd grudgingly accepted her offer to help and she was very grateful. The work was the only thing keeping her out of a straight jacket locked in a room with memory foam walls. White was never her color.

She knew she was driving all of her friends nuts too, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from asking for news. It was like waiting while a jury deliberated. Would Walter be condemned or would his sentence be commuted?

"Technically there are no ' _days_ ' in space, Mom. Or hours or minutes or even nanoseconds for that matter. Time is a construct based on the rotation of the Earth and its position to the sun. Since we're no longer on the Earth…"

"Thank you for that unsolicited science lesson, smartie pants, but that wasn't what I was asking." Paige tore the packaging off the end of a protein bar and handed it to Ralph along with a pouch of water.

"I know," he bit a sizable chunk out of the bar and chewed, making a face when he swallowed, "but don't you think I would've told you if I'd heard something? Everyone is really frustrated. We're wasting valuable time while the captain stalls."

"I thought time didn't exist," Paige wore a teasing smirk and nudged him with an elbow.

The teen rolled his eyes. "It does back on Earth where it matters how soon we find and eliminate this threat. We can't very well neutralize it unless we identify it first."

She took a bite of her own bar. The vaguely sweet, gluey mass lodged in her throat. She washed it down with water. "I'd give my right tonsil for a salad or some fresh fruit right about now," she sighed.

"I'd give both of mine plus my appendix for just one slice of pizza."

"Ohhhhh. With green peppers and olives and mushrooms." Paige forced another bite down, dreaming of something tastier.

Ralph wrinkled up his nose. "Nope. Double pepperoni. With an ice cream sundae for dessert."

Mother and son shared a grin.

Paige grabbed both wrappers and placed them in the recycler. "Well, doing the dishes is certainly easier. And at least the meal supplement bars are way better than Walter's fermented fish. Am I right? I guess we should consider ourselves lucky he wasn't in charge of stocking the ship with provisions."

"I wish I had some fermented fish for him," Ralph said sadly. His tone gave Paige pause.

"Ralph? Is everything okay with Walter? Have you talked to him?" She hadn't seen hide nor hair since that day by the captain's office. She was steadily growing more and more concerned.

The boy shrugged nonchalantly, but Paige could see the worry in his eyes when he answered. "I talk to him all the time. We work together. He says he's fine. But that's what he always says. Even when he's not. I know he's tired. He's been working nonstop since liftoff. And I can tell something is bugging him."

"Do you want me to try talking to him?"

Taking less than a moment to consider, Ralph nodded solemnly.


	8. Function

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Happy Valentine's, everyone! Here's a quick update to celebrate!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

It wasn't fifteen minutes after Ralph left to work the second half of his shift with Sylvester when the intercom buzzed.

Paige jumped. She'd been miles away. In an attempt to reassure herself, she was reliving memories of Scorpion's past successes in spite of staggering odds against them. They would band together and triumph over whatever situation they faced. Wouldn't they?

"Mrs. O'Brien?" a voice on the intercom inquired.

She shot out of the chair and practically flew across the room to hit the answer button. Was there _finally_ news?

"Yes?" Paige replied a little breathlessly.

"This is Caroline Sommers at the computer station. I think you need to get down here."

"Is everything alright? Is it my son?" She responded, slightly alarmed.

"No, ma'am. You're son is fine. It's…Well, it's your husband. Um, I'm afraid he's really out of it and muttering what sounds like bits of equations. Mostly just talking out of his head, you know? He's not making any sense. Please, could you come right away?"

"On my way!" Paige yelled in the general vicinity of the intercom while speeding toward the door.

As she rushed out, she almost ran smack into Toby. Paige grasped onto his arm with both hands.

"Toby!" she exclaimed, startled but relieved to see him. "It's Walter. I don't know what's wrong or what to do for him…" Her worried eyes met his.

"Hey, calm down now. Take a breath. Never fear, your favorite genius doctor is here. What's up with Big Brain?"

Paige described the symptoms the way they'd been related to her. She felt somewhat comforted when Toby didn't appear troubled by what she told him.

"Has he been sleeping? Eating?"

"I wouldn't know. He's never here. I've barely seen him."

"Let's take a look at the dispenser real quick. It should tell us if he's accessed his rations regularly."

"Toby, I already told his supervisor I was on my way. I have to hurry."

"Another few seconds of gathering information won't make a difference and it might be useful in figuring out what to do. I just want to verify I'm right. Let's face it. I usually am." He swaggered into the common area without waiting for her consent.

Paige debated for a scant few seconds before following behind him. By then he was already accessing the computer on their dispenser, bypassing the thumbprint scanner by typing in a password on the screen.

"Check it out. I was right. Of course." Toby raised an eyebrow and pointed to the data on the display. "He hasn't touched anything but coffee pretty much the whole time we've been in space."

Frantic to get to Walter, but also hoping for helpful advice about how to handle the situation, Paige asked impatiently, "What does that have to do with anything? What should we do for him?"

Toby tapped a couple of things on the screen. A protein shake and a water pouch dropped down into the tray. He handed them to Paige. "He's dehydrated. His blood glucose is probably close to nil. And he's living in an uncharted and scary universe. Namely, the one that exists between his ears. In other words, he's deep down the rabbit hole. You need to get these into him as soon as possible. From there he mostly requires several hours of uninterrupted sleep."

"How am I supposed to get him to do all that? Aren't you coming with me?"

"Nope, sorry. I was making a house call to assess a puke-y patient next door when you waylaid me. A ship's doctor's work is never done. But you'll be alright. You're the genius whisperer. I'm sure you'll think of something," Toby told her, showing loads of confidence she wasn't feeling. He patted her shoulder then gave her a little shove. "Now get up there and nag your husband into eating! Shoo!"

Paige took the doctor's advice and got to Deck B as fast as possible. Caroline was outside in the hall waiting for her, the accusing look on her face shouting a silent 'it's about damn time'.

"I'm so sorry. I got here as fast as I could," Paige blathered a hasty apology to the unspoken complaint. "Where is he?"

Caroline led her into a cramped, isolated techie cube farm and pointed. "He's there."

And sure enough the genius was pacing in front of a white board filled with scribbles and prattling away to himself. Walter looked like a wild man with his hair sticking up every which way and nearly a full week's growth of beard on his face. His bloodshot eyes were rolling around madly without taking in any of his surroundings. He was entirely absorbed by something internal.

It hurt her heart to see him in such a state. Without hesitation, Paige went straight to him.

"Walter? Sweetie?" she cajoled, the endearment slipping out unchecked.

No response. Not even a glance.

Paige tried grabbing his sleeve, but he yanked it away and kept pacing. So she tried standing directly in his path. Walter weaved unsteadily around her.

Everyone was gawking. Paige ignored them. Walter was in a bad way and he needed her help. That was her only concern at the moment.

On the next pass, she blocked his way again and caught the sides of his face between her palms. Looking him squarely in the eyes, she said gently, "Hey. Walter. It's me. It's Paige. Look at me. Okay? I need you to focus on me."

His heavy, swollen eyelids slid closed then he dragged them slowly open again. "You certainly resemble Paige. But the real Paige doesn't like me." He tried to tug his head away and resumed his garbled muttering. "The trajectory arc is calculated by multiplying one sixteenth the radius of… No. No. That won't work…"

Paige wouldn't budge and she wouldn't let go. "You know that's not true." She was speaking more firmly now. "I not only like you very much…" She almost blurted out that she still loved him. That simple realization struck her and, like a blow to the stomach, robbed her of breath. Because unlike the other time she'd said those words to him while he was in trouble in space and in a different rocket, _this_ time she _knew_ it was one hundred percent the truth. Not the best time to discover her feelings for him hadn't diminished one tiny bit, but had, in fact, deepened.

Focus. She had to focus. He needed her and she couldn't afford to screw up, not to mention chance widening the stupid rift between them. Forcing herself to say those old watered-down, cowardly and nearly meaningless but ultimately safer words, she told him, "I c-care about you. And I _need_ you. All of us need your help."

That got his attention. His brow puckered. "What'dyou need?" He slurred.

Paige huffed out a laugh. Of course that concept would get through to him. She was thinking, 'God complex, much'? However, she offered him a trembling smile instead of expressing the thought.

She let go of his face and grasped him by the upper arms. "I'll explain everything if you'll just sit down right over here."

Paige glared at the person in the nearest chair and jerked her head to the side. He got up and scuttled away. She backed Walter to the vacated chair. When his knees hit the seat, he crumpled into it as if his spine and legs had suddenly turned to jelly.

"Observation or wave function collapse," Walter mumbled sleepily to himself.

Paige snapped her fingers in his face. "Stay with me. Now, somewhere in there, you know you're dangerously low on fuel. Right?"

He nodded once then his chin flopped to his chest and stayed there. Paige broke the seal on the protein shake, raised his chin and held the opening to Walter's lips. He took a drink then turned his head away. "It's blue… blueb-bloodberry. I _hate_ bloob…" Some of it dribbled out of the corner of his mouth.

Paige wiped the droplet away with her thumb. To keep him talking, she asked, "Since when?"

His upper lip curled in contempt. "Since the time you raved about Timothy's stupid blooo bury… blubbery crum-crumble." His eyes shut and he sighed wearily.

Even though Paige was caught between laughter and tears, she adopted her sternest mom voice and lectured, "Well, that hardly matters right now. You can't help anyone unless you drink this. All of it. _Now_."

Walter's eyes opened to slits and he scowled at her from under his drooping lids. But he guzzled all six ounces in one go. He coughed and sputtered and grimaced. "Thass it?" he asked, swiping at his mouth with the back of one hand.

"No," Paige insisted adamantly. She broke the seal on the water and placed it in his hand. "Now this. And you need to come with me. Do you think you can walk?"

"'Course I can walk! I'm not in-incarcerated... inconstipated...incontinent... _incapacitated_!" he barked. He tried to get up and fell backward, accidentally squeezing the water on impact and squirting the contents all over his lap. "Oops."

"Oops is right," she soothed, looking at the spreading stain on his pants, "Maybe a touch incontinent? Don't worry. Someone will bring you another one."

Paige narrowed her eyes at the nearest gawking geek. "Would you mind," she bit out.

He made a disgusted noise, but went to get more water anyway, tossing it at her resentfully. She didn't care.

"Here. Maybe you should drink this first."

Walter did as she asked without argument that time.

She gathered the spent containers and dropped them on the grumpy guy's desk.

Smiling beatifically, she addressed Walter, "I'm sure your friend won't mind taking care of these for us. Now, let's get you to bed."

"With you?" He leered drunkenly. "I like going to bed with you."

Paige flushed pink. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. It wasn't funny. But it kinda was.

"Alright, Don Juan. Whatever gets you there." Grunting with the effort, she hefted him up and slung his arm around her shoulders. Her arm circled his waist, holding him to her side securely.

"Who?" Walter asked as he staggered forward dragging his feet. "I need to tell the captain…. Uh…something about the next launch window isn't until… You're stunning. I mean, _really_ stunning." He was staring at her profile as if he'd never seen her before.

"Thank you. Could I get you to concentrate for me right now? We have to go down a couple of ladders and you'll have to navigate them yourself. Almost there." She hadn't thought about this little slice of awesomeness. How the hell was she supposed to get them both down to E level safely? She compressed her lips to contain a string of curse words before they escaped.

Paige decided to replay the 'I need your help' card. "Walter, can you stay awake long enough to make sure I get down these ladders safely?"

He flashed her an insulted look. For all intents and purposes, the trick worked like a charm, though. A few times, he stopped and reeled on the spot and once he laid his forehead down on the rung above the one his hands were gripping, halting his progress while he fought sleep and struggled to remember where he was. Each time, he would look up to insure she was all right and it would pull his mind back to the task.

It was slow going, but eventually they both made it down to E deck.

The corridor was narrow, but it worked in their favor. Walter's shoulder bumping along the wall with each step helped keep him upright. Paige wasn't sure she could've managed otherwise.

When they reached the door, she maneuvered him around and propped him up against the wall, trying to hold him in place one handed while she scanned her other thumb. He slipped down and landed in a boneless puddle on the floor.

The door opened like it was supposed to, but when she removed her thumb to help Walter to his feet, it promptly shut again.

The next time she tried holding him up with her shoulder and hip. And got the same result.

Exasperated to be so close to the goal only to be thwarted by artificial gravity and one exhausted man, she planted her fists on her hips and surveyed him critically. "What am I going to do with you, Mister?"

His slack-jawed face gawping up at her from the ground reminded her of a zombie's and she wondered perversely if Walter's genius brain would be considered a thanksgiving feast for the undead.

"'M fine right here." He patted the floor.

"C'mon. It's only a little farther, but you have to help me out. We can't stop now," she wheedled, but his head lolled back and he shut his eyes.

"Oh, no you don't." Paige squatted down in front of him and shook his shoulder.

Nothing.

She patted his cheeks. Then smacked them smartly.

Nothing.

People strolled by, but no one offered to help. Bastards.

Still crouched down at eye level with Walter, Paige was quickly running through her best options. The only ones she could come up with were A) waste time calling for help hoping someone would be free to come quickly or B) going inside to get a blanket, with the idea she might be able to roll him on to it somehow and drag him inside.

Suddenly, he jerked and snorted and his eyes popped open.

One corner of Walter's full lips tipped up in a crooked smiled. The beard stubble gave him a dangerous look. His voice was like warm honey over gravel when he said, "I'm so in love with you."

He slid a hand under the hair at the nape of her neck and pressed his lips against hers in a soft, languid kiss.

Wow. She saw stars and she wasn't even looking out the window.

The awkward angle made Paige's feet slip out from under her and she landed hard on her butt, breaking the contact. "Okay," she panted, "Okay. So-so that happened. Um, let's get you on your feet."

More than ever, she was extremely aware of the length of his body pressed against her side, she wrestled him through the common area, barely able to avoid tripping over a chair.

"I'm going to clean up now before I change clothes," he said when they got to their berth. He sounded a little more like himself, but she hovered because she was afraid to leave him on his own. Walter pulled away and inched around her into the bathroom.

"I'm fine. I'm not an invalid," he snapped even as he swayed on his feet in front of the pitifully small sink.

Paige refused to be oversensitive about his tone. Instead she surveyed him closely. "If you're sure. I want to get you some more water and maybe another shake anyway. Oh, and I also need to pull the bed out and get it ready." She ducked into the bedroom and grabbed him some clean underwear and a t-shirt.

She handed them around the bathroom door.

"No more blueberry," he demanded petulantly as she turned to leave again.

"Got it." Her lips twitched. "Hey. Don't shave, okay? Your hands are so unsteady, I'm afraid you might cut your throat." She tossed that warning over her shoulder as she hussled out to make up the bed. It was _not_ because she thought the beard was sexy. She simply didn't want him to hurt himself!

When everything was prepared, Paige went to check on Walter and found him fast asleep sitting on the closed commode lid, his forehead resting against the sink, his arms dangling on either side of his knees. His toothbrush was in the sink and water was still trickling from the faucet. His clean clothes were in a forgotten pile on the floor.

She squeezed into the bathroom and rubbed his shoulder. "Hey. Walter?"

"Hmmm?" He sat up groggily, blinking lazily.

"Want some help cleaning up and changing?" She asked. Her heart instantly began beating erratically, her thoughts going haywire.

At his nod, Paige grasped his elbow and helped him to stand. She handed him the shake she'd gotten from the dispenser. "Here. Drink this."

He nodded again and took a sip. "Chocolate. Mmm. Chocolate is better even with toothpaste. It's, uh, like-like mint chocolate. Thanks."

Walter was so near, she could watch his throat move as he swallowed. He set the container aside.

Paige's trembling fingers found the hem of his shirt. She looked up and his eyes were intensely boring into hers.

Her cheeks were blazing. It was clear she hadn't thought this whole process through very well. Her gaze dropped to his chest which was rising and falling rapidly. Even without the powerful eye contact, it wasn't much better. She faltered as she lifted his shirt baring his torso to her. She pulled it up and off over his head.

The little room grew warm and almost sultry as she ran hot water into the sink. Paige wrung out a clean washcloth. When she turned back toward the half-naked genius, she had the craven urge to run away. Mostly because she was ashamed of how much this situation was affecting her. Here he was exhausted and out of his head and all the while she was recalling the way it felt to have Walter's weight on top of her. Or the way his smooth skin felt under her exploring fingers and lips. Or the way he breathed her name when he pushed inside her.

Carefully, she swiped the warm, soft cloth over his bare chest and arms. Paige could feel her pulse thrumming all over her body. She could see his throbbing in his neck. She dipped the cloth in the hot water again and wrung it out. She turned him around and rubbed the cloth over his back and shoulders all the way down to his waist. It was absolute torture of the best kind. She toweled him dry the same way.

Paige bent to get his clean shirt. She unfolded it and slipped it over his head, smoothing it down over his damp skin, taking a bit longer than strictly necessary. Oh, how she'd missed touching him.

Walter swallowed hard when her hands dropped to the button on his pants. "Uh, P-paige? I think I should take it from here." The words came out rather shaky.

She didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Striving for a matter-of-fact tone, she asked, "Are you sure you're awake enough?"

"Oh, uh, I'm plenty awake for-for now." He wasn't the only one.

Their eyes didn't meet when she excused herself to go stand and wait for him in the entry way. She pulled the louvered bathroom door closed and wished she could shut the door on temptation as easily.

When Walter emerged a few minutes later, his shoulders were once again sagging with fatigue. He edged around her and shuffled into the bedroom. He plunked down hard on the side of the bed and fell over sideways. He was half asleep before his head touched the pillow.

Paige assumed he was conked out when she pulled the covers over him, but he grabbed her wrist when she started to leave.

"Stay with me? I miss you," he whispered. Walter scooted over as far as he could in the limited space. He gave her a pleading look she didn't have the strength to ignore. A few minutes of cuddling wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?

She kicked off her shoes and climbed in beside him. His arm immediately snaked around her waist and pulled her close. Walter nuzzled his face into her chest. "I've missed your breasts too. They're lovely."

He sighed in contentment and Paige felt him relax fully against her, his arm and head becoming dead weight as he finally dropped into a deep slumber.


	9. Greater Than

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Okay, kids, this one skirts the line of 'M' and may even put a toe or ten over that line. If that's not your thing, you may wanna skip to the end once things get 'interesting'.**

 **Again, thanks for the kind words and encouragement in your reviews. They're a big part of the reason I put my stuff out there.**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

Early on, in an effort to process the craziness that was her life after she'd joined Scorpion, Paige had taken to journaling her impressions and feelings about cases. Not only had it helped her purge the fears and other negative emotions, it gave her a record of all the incredible feats they'd accomplished as a team over the years. Not to mention it helped her keep track of the steady progress of a certain genius with a serious EQ deficit.

Out of all the cases she'd worked, this one had to be the most unbelievable yet. So she sat at the tiny desk in the cramped room, her journal open in front of her, tapping a pen against her lips. Paige flat out couldn't find enough words to describe all the insanity that was happening.

Of course it might've been that her brain was on overload after lying next to Walter for the better part of the last eleven hours.

More like the _best_ part.

She'd only gotten up for a brief period to greet Ralph and make sure her son had something to eat. She wasn't about to allow the boy to follow Walter and work himself down the rabbit hole. As he ate, they'd visited for a few minutes. She told him an abbreviated version of what happened with Walter. Soon after, he'd disappeared to his room to read for a bit before going to sleep. He'd left for his next shift before Paige woke up again. Being the canny mother she was, she figured it was probably in an effort to give the 'newlyweds' uninterrupted time on their own. Ralph, the teenage match-maker.

Her eyes strayed over to Walter's inert form. He was still breathing deeply and evenly, his long-lashes fanning out in soft arcs against his face which had lost its previously pallid appearance. His cheeks were once again infused with healthy color. His return to vitality caused her to contemplate his virility even more. She felt like such a perv.

In her defense, they'd always been on the same page in the physical department. Or on the same _Paige_ , as it were. Whichever, sex had never been a problem. In fact, it was pretty magnificent most of the time. But she was a realist and knew great sex couldn't be the foundation of a lasting relationship. They still had yet to discuss a single one of their issues. Like open communication, for instance. They'd both always sucked at that one.

There was no way she could deny sleeping next to the genius felt perfectly right, however. Like comfort and safety and home. She missed him horribly. Still cared for and admired him immensely. …still loved him completely. Warts and all. Who would've guessed she preferred the toad to the handsome prince even after all the time and effort she put in trying to change him into her ideal. She was far from perfect herself.

Just then, her adorable toad turned over, rustling under the covers and letting out a muffled snort. Without opening his eyes, Walter patted around her side of the bed, obviously hunting for her, melting her heart in the process. When he came up empty-handed, his eyes blinked open.

There wasn't anywhere to hide, so his gaze landed directly on her.

Paige couldn't help it. She blushed. Would he remember the things he'd said and done a few hours ago?

"Hey," he rasped, "How long was I out?" He stretched his arms and legs, groaning softly.

"About eleven hours. Maybe a little more. Can I get you something?"

"Um, thanks. But I suspect you've done enough." Walter looked away, embarrassed.

"How much do you remember?" Paige couldn't help asking. Unable to maintain eye contact either, she pretended to be busy writing when she was actually doodling Walter's name in her journal like a silly adolescent girl.

"Oh, um. Not much. I never do when I get that way. I haven't been that bad in a long time." He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm sorry you had to deal with it. With-with me."

"It was no trouble." It was. She lied about that. It seemed better than admitting it was also her absolute pleasure. Because helping him and caring for him felt like a privilege too and she didn't like the idea of anyone else doing it.

Walter eyed her skeptically. "Well, thank you anyway. I need to get back to the lab. I'm sure there are quite a few questions and issues that have stacked up in my absence."

"Uh, no. I don't think so." Paige shook her head emphatically. "Your supervisor told me she doesn't want to see you anywhere near that lab for a full twenty-four hours."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm fine…"

"Stop. You weren't fine. Not at all. And none of us can afford for you to lapse back into that condition again." Paige aimed her best steely glare at him.

Walter glowered back at her, his jaw set stubbornly. "I _know,_ okay? I won't let it happen again."

"Caroline restricted your access. You couldn't get in if you tried. Sorry." Not sorry.

"As if I couldn't bypass the security within seconds," he scoffed, "I'm the one who wrote the program."

"She had Ralph check for and close up any loopholes and backdoors," she answered with a smug smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I guess you're stuck here with me for the time being."

He made a show of being frustrated, flinging off the covers, yanking his duffle from under the bed, snatching clothes out of his bag and stalking toward the bathroom.

"What am I supposed to do for the other twelve hours and change?" Walter groused loudly from the other room.

"Besides eat and recover, you mean?" Paige called, "I don't know. Read? Watch a movie? Talk? Sleep some more?"

She heard his aggravated snarl bouncing off the bare walls. "This mission is already way behind schedule. I'm only attempting to save every occupant on Earth. I guess wasting another few hours while I goof off is worth risking billions of lives."

The water gurgled then came on full blast.

Paige got up and peeked around the bathroom door. She watched mesmerized for a few moments, admiring Walter's lean form while he hastily lathered his face and neck for a shave. She shook her head to clear it. "Look, heaven only knows you're essential. You do know things haven't ground to a screeching halt without you, though. I know it's hard for you to grasp, but it's okay to let other people worry and work and figure things out for themselves once in a while. You scared me. Do you hear? You need to take care of yourself. We all need you to take care of yourself. Where have you been sleeping all this time? Or were you sleeping at all?"

He focused on his own reflection, refusing to look at her. "At-at my desk. Or sometimes on the bench at the end of the hall. I'd catch naps here and there." She raised one inquiring eyebrow and waited. He caught her look in the mirror. "Okay, um, not much at all. I know that was stupid. But everything we're working on is so urgent and things kept coming up and everyone kept asking me for help and looking to me for fixes…"

"Well, they aren't now. They're on their own for just a little while. You need to recuperate fully or you won't be much use to anyone."

Paige strolled away allowing him to mull things over.

Walter came back a few minutes later carrying various rations. "Have you already had breakfast?" He asked quietly, the remorse written all over his expressive face. He was clearly trying to make up for upsetting her.

"I ate earlier. Thanks, though. Besides, I don't think you need to be sharing your rations with anyone. You need them yourself." Paige smiled at him reassuringly from her spot on the unmade futon.

The term 'close quarters' immediately took on a whole new meaning for her. Because there were only two possible places to sit in their quarters and neither was made for two people to sit together comfortably if they were only platonic friends. Is that what they were? Complicated was yet another word she was beginning to appreciate in a different way.

"I seem to have built up quite a surplus. I think I can spare some." He handed her a supplement bar and perched on the edge of the futon next to her.

They sat stiffly side-by-side, chewing quietly. The crinkling of wrappers sounded extra loud in the midst of the weighty silence engulfing them.

Walter swallowed then huffed out a mirthless laugh. "So… How exactly does this relaxing thing work, then?"

"Now you know how I've felt virtually every day since we've been on this mission. Neither one of us is used to leisure time, are we?" Paige nodded sympathetically, "If you'll grab my tablet, we could watch a movie or a documentary or something. I think I've run through most of the ship's library of things I can actually understand, but you might find something that'll suit your more intellectual taste."

They were soon settled with their backs propped against a stack of pillows at the head of the bed, the tablet balanced between them on their legs. Paige was trying to forget they were also pressed together from shoulders on down. Walter had to drape an arm around her so they could both see the small screen. Nothing disconcerting about that. Not at all.

It was no time at all before he grew drowsy and began to nod off, his cheek resting against her hair. After nearly a week without sleep, it was no wonder he wasn't caught up yet.

A couple of hours later, as the end credits scrolled, Walter stirred and asked, "Did I fall asleep again?"

Paige tapped the tablet to stop the video. "About two minutes in. Good news is I now know more about natural resin polymer synthesis and the advantages of sustainability than I ever wanted to." She grinned at him teasingly.

He went instantly apologetic. "I'm sorry. We could've picked something that was more appealing to you… I'm not very good at compromising, am I? I-I never supported your interests or participated willingly in entertainments you enjoyed. Is that why things went so wrong? Our lack of common interests?" His eyes searched hers. He was so heart-breakingly sincere. It was totally captivating.

"You really wanna know what I think?"

He nodded soberly, his eyes going all serious and sad.

"On the surface, we don't have much in common. You're right about that. But your lack of musical appreciation and my lack of interest in science lectures? That's all superficial stuff. At the end of the day, who really cares about those things? You and I are quite a bit alike on a deeper level where it matters most." Paige had no idea where the words were coming from, but in her heart, as she said them, she knew them to be completely right.

The sadness faded from his face. Curiosity took its place. "How so?"

"It all started with you loving my son, didn't it? Wanting a better life for him? That's something we share. And both of us are idealists. We believe that most people are good and they're worth saving no matter what. We both agree that the innocent and the weak need to be sheltered whatever the cost. That struck a chord with me from the very beginning. We both struggle with insecurities. We just handle them in different ways, don't we? You shut down or hide behind arrogance. I blow up and walk away. We both have reason to distrust one or both of our parents. But you know we truly trust each other and because of our pasts, that doesn't come easily to either of us. We both carry scars from losing loved ones, so family is even more important to us. Neither of us believes that blood determines your family. We're loyal. We're protective. Sometimes overly so. We're stubborn. We're responsible. We have an insane work ethic. No one could call either of us lazy. We're willing to work to get what we want. We even find the same things funny. It's not like Toby's puns or toilet humor or biting sarcasm or silly like Sly's. We're quieter, probably a lot cornier. Dad jokes, sort of. Or like leaving a stupid, gimmicky restaurant wearing your dinner." They shared a grin at the fond memory.

Walter was hanging on her every word as Paige continued, "I don't know if it was the same for you, but something about you has always resonated in the very essence of me." She patted the left side of his chest over his heart. "Yes, we don't enjoy going to monster truck rallies together like Happy and Toby do. And we don't like dressing in costumes and going to renaissance fairs like Sylvester and his friends. But, I feel great being with you doing anything or nothing at all. Could you have tried harder to get along with my non-genius friends? Definitely. But I could've included you in different activities with them. Ones that weren't so annoying to you. It was like I kept testing your tolerance and that wasn't fair. My job duties and being your girlfriend got tangled up somewhere along the way. The lines got crossed, you know? In spite of that though, you're the person I always want to run to when things go wrong. And you're the person I want to share things with when they go right, because it makes them more meaningful for me. You've always wanted the best for me and I'm the one who wants to see you grow and reach your potential. I expect a lot from you. Sometimes too much. But I like to think it's because I believe in you. All that to say, you're the best friend I've ever had. Is that enough? I don't know. But it sure seems important to me. Because I've never had anything close to this with another person in my whole life. In my book, that makes it worth fighting for."

Their eyes caught and held for a breathless moment. Paige licked her lips and Walter's gaze dropped to her mouth. In the next instant, they were kissing as if the fate of the world depended on it.

His tongue teased hers, his fingers traced a tantalizing path from her neck, down her arm and back up to brush the side of her breast. She arched her back, whimpering against his mouth, begging for more contact. Each caress, every kiss heightened her arousal. Paige was starved for intimacy with him.

Her hands were everywhere too, but much more impatient. Tugging at his shirt until he yanked it off and tossed it to the floor, pulling at the button and working the zipper of his pants, making him gasp when her questing hand brushed against the hard ridge underneath.

Some time later, Walter hesitated at the brink. "This isn't smart. We probably shouldn't," he panted into her shoulder.

"Probably not," Paige answered, straining toward him and pressing against him anyway.

"I don't care," he growled.

"Neither do I," she whispered against his ear.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Paige woke feeling blissfully lazy and content. Walter was curled around behind her still snoozing, his exhales stirring the fine hair on her neck giving her chills. Pleasant ones. She snuggled into his warm embrace.

His fingers splayed against her stomach, tugging her closer. He hummed and pressed his lips to her shoulder.

"Mr. O'Brien? I can tell you're awake. Every single part of you." She rubbed her bottom provocatively against the evidence.

He cleared his throat and said in his most superior tone, "Yes. It's a perfectly natural biological response to certain stimuli." His playful hand migrated north and tweaked the little peak his explorations uncovered. "What's your excuse?"

Paige suppressed a gasp. Mocking his tone as well as his words, she said, "It's a perfectly natural biological response to certain stimuli. I'm, uh, cold." She ruined the effect by letting a giggle escape.

He nipped at her earlobe. Then he continued in the same vein. "I've read numerous physics studies. Without exception, they all say friction causes heat. Mind if I conduct an experiment?"

Walter ran his tongue around the outer rim of her ear while he 'experimented'. Paige squirmed against him, his touch driving her crazy.

He rolled her onto her back and examined his handy work closely. "Huh. You're defying the laws of physics. Interesting. The friction appears to be making matters worse." He lifted a cocky eyebrow, "This calls for further testing." He switched to the other side applying the same method.

Paige pulled his head down and took his mouth in a searing kiss as she pushed herself into his palm dying for more of his damn 'friction'.

She felt his naughty grin against her lips. Walter pulled away to say, "You know… the inside of my mouth is a full 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Hmmm. Maybe if I apply heat as well as friction…?"

He didn't wait for her input. He just took one protruding nub into his mouth. Paige emitted a little squeak and almost went cross-eyed. What he was doing with his tongue felt so incredibly good. Her fingernails grazed the back of his neck and combed into his hair, holding him in place.

Walter slid one leg between hers, rubbing against her right where she was most sensitive. "You seem to be nice and hot in other areas," he observed. She was satisfied to note his voice had dropped a whole octave.

One bold hand moved downwards and brushed over her. Paige moaned his name and her hips lifted off the bed, seeking more. But he continued to only tease her, his fingers circling lightly. She pushed up against his hand.

"Paige," Walter said gruffly, "I happen to have an instrument that could measure your core temperature. In the interest of scientific research, should I…?"

Paige wrapped her fingers around his 'instrument' and demanded, "Yes! Wal- _ter_! Now!"

Later, when they lay together satisfied and replete and were breathing semi-normally again, he joked, "See? Not all science lectures are boring."

"Agreed." Paige kissed him soundly. They both chuckled. Then they kissed some more.

The intercom buzzed, rudely interrupting their sweet interlude and bringing the burden of harsh reality crashing back down on them.

"Hello. This is Captain Huang speaking. Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien are to report to my office immediately. I have reached a decision."


	10. Backspace

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Happy Friday, all!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"I will have you thrown in the brig if you do not calm down, Mr. O'Brien," the captain told him in cold, clipped notes. In spite of her Chinese origins, she only exhibited a very slight accent when speaking English.

Paige could count on one finger the times she'd seen Walter so emotionally overwrought he was shaking with it. This was it. "You're being entirely unreasonable," he seethed.

For herself, she was struck dumb and frozen with shock.

"I will take your revised opinion under advisement, but I tend to think you are the one who is not thinking rationally about this. You explained it so succinctly in the first place. It is not logical to risk the entire crew by landing the shuttle on the lunar surface. Sending one person down to the surface alone is, by far, the best option. All of the experts I have consulted concur."

"When we discussed this before, I was volunteering _myself_ for the position," Walter gritted out between clenched teeth.

"I fail to see the difference," the austere woman stated. Her dark eyes raked over the irate genius indifferently.

He promptly went back to shouting, his finger stabbing the desk at intervals for emphasis. "You can _not_ send my wife down there by herself! Paige is _not_ an expert! She is _not_ a genius! She does _not_ have a science background! How can you reasonably expect…?"

"Again, I remind you to get yourself under control, sir. This is my final warning. I am afraid you are making my point for me. Do not forget, you stood there and told me a pilot wasn't necessary because a monkey could land that rover since it is fully automated. For that matter, so is all the testing equipment. What is not automatic can be explained in detail if she needs further instructions." She flipped through a file on her desk. "You also submitted right here on the application for inclusion… your wife is 'an exemplary lab assistant'. You, sir, are too critical to the success of this mission to lose. Mrs. O'Brien serves no unique function. My decision stands." She flipped the folder closed, one blunt, red-tipped nail tapping it imperiously.

Walter lunged as if to leap over the desk and throttle the vile woman. Two security officers caught him by the arms. Fighting against their hold, he bellowed, "I won't allow you to do this!"

"You have no say in it. Take him away. From now on, he can work from a cell," Huang waved him away like an annoying insect.

"Stop!" Paige finally found her voice. "Release my husband, please." She spoke respectfully to the captain. It cost her, but she managed. The guards didn't let go of him, but they did stop at Captain Huang's signal.

"Walter," she said in a softer tone. He stopped struggling, " _Please_ , sweetheart? I'm going to need your support if I'm going to go through with this."

Walter lifted tortured eyes to her. "You _aren't_ going to do this. You can't. Paige? Please? You-you _can't_ …" his voice broke and he trailed off. He shook his head. "No."

Paige bit her lip to stop it from trembling. "I'm the one who wants to save everyone, remember? And I also recall the promise you made to me on the day we met. Do you?" She knew he did.

"I will not let anything happen to you," he whispered.

"You can't very well keep that promise if you're locked up."

oOoOoOoOoOo

"I got your back, 197. I smoothed things over with our lovely crap-tain. You got your 'Get Out of Jail Free' card. Yes, I'm just _that_ good." Toby boasted. Paige could detect the worry under the bravado, though. "I told her you lost your head due to stress and fatigue. I also kinda inferred you were still too ill to be cleared for duty. Communists," he shrugged, "Who knew they don't appreciate it when someone questions authority?"

Toby was the last one to join the whole original Scorpion gang, excepting Cabe and including Florence, in Suite 7. They were crammed together, brainstorming ideas to figure out how to handle the newest quandary.

Walter was pacing the postage-stamp sized common room like a demented wind-up toy. "Great. Thanks," he acknowledged absent-mindedly.

"What's the plan here? Should we start a mutiny? Stage a coup?" Happy asked, only half joking. Maybe less than half.

The intercom buzzed. "Hey! This is our suite too! Let us in!"

Sylvester was the closest. He pressed the answer button. "Sorry. This unit is quarantined until further notice."

"This is bullsh…" Sly hit the mute button.

Walter dragged a hand down his face. "Happy, how are the repairs to the rocket fuel reservoir going? Have you made significant progress?"

"Some. Not enough. You know what I had to work with."

"Yes. But we discussed using materials from the biodome to make a launch pad. Perhaps you could find something there?"

"Already thought of that, Walt. The cargo area is restricted access, so it's a lucky thing I'm married to a guy with the skeleton key code to go anywhere…"

"Too true. It's not what you know but who. Or 'whom' before the grammar police come and lock me up," Toby elaborated. "Gotta be able to save lives wherever they're in danger."

"Yes. Brilliant. What did you _find_?" Walter snapped.

"That's the weird part. Nothing," Happy answered, ignoring Walter's attitude.

"Nothing? As in you didn't find anything usable? That's a little hard to believe…"

"No, Walt," Toby corrected, "Nothing. As in no thing. The cargo bay reserved for the biodome stuff was empty."

There was a collective gasp from Sylvester and Florence. "That's impossible. We supervised the loading of that compartment ourselves," Sly protested.

"Then what happened to it?" Paige asked, incredulous.

Toby shook his head. "Obviously it isn't impossible since it already happened. I checked the access logs. Someone opened the external door sometime after we left Earth's atmosphere and before we achieved orbit here. Biodome detritus is probably floating its way into deep space as we speak."

"You could tell it was accessed?" Sylvester threw in, "Did you look to see who'd accessed it?"

Toby gave him a withering look. "Gee, I wish I'd thought of that. Of course we did. It was done remotely and the ID was scrubbed. Any further probing was above my clearance not to mention my skill set."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?!" Walter demanded. "You knew I was looking into the sabotage incidents."

"This all happened about the same time you decided to follow the white rabbit. You were in no condition."

Frustration radiated off of Walter. "Take it easy, Big Brain," Toby cautiously soothed, "We'll figure all this out."

Walter stopped pacing and sagged into a chair. "Which part? I wish I knew if it was relevant or related to this… this latest thing with Paige. I can't afford to lose focus running after the saboteur if it isn't. The most important thing now is to figure out a way to not only land that rover safely, but get it back into orbit and docked with the shuttle."

Ralph piped up. "If you decide it's relevant, I'm on the saboteur part, Walt."

Paige was grateful when Walter squeezed the boy's shoulder affectionately and said a quiet, "Thanks, buddy. I know I can count on you."

She knew Ralph needed to feel as if he was contributing.

"Getting on the ground in one piece won't be a problem, boss. I'm ninety percent sure the repairs I made will hold during landing. It's the getting back up that's not looking so good right now," Happy explained.

"That's not acceptable!"

Paige laid a hand on one of Walter's balled-up fists. "Hey. Settle down. None of this is Happy's fault. She's trying to help."

He sighed. "Sorry. Sorry, Happy. I know you're doing what you can…"

"Excuse me," Florence cleared her throat. "The whole purpose for this excursion is to explore an alien structure. Am I right?"

"Yes. What's your point?"

"Wal _ter_ ," Paige scolded mildly.

His rudeness didn't appear to phase Florence one iota, though. "Couldn't you repurpose something from the base? There should be a plethora of materials that could be utilized."

Walter's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "In theory, yes. If the materials are compatible…" Paige saw a light go on in his head, but he compressed his lips and didn't share the 'eureka moment' with the group. That worried her a little.

"I follow you," Happy agreed looking somewhat impressed, "I could make sure the lander was equipped with the right kinds of tools. Sly, you'll have to account for the extra weight."

"Not a problem. Keep in mind we'd have to carry extra fuel for a successful liftoff in that case. I would need to factor that in too…" Sylvester mused.

"Hold it," Paige argued, "Guys! You're forgetting a minor little detail, aren't you?" Six pairs of genius eyes turned in her direction. "I don't know one end of a wrench from the other. I'm no one's mechanic."

Happy addressed Paige, "Don't worry, waitress. Ava dismantled and reassembled everything in her bubble without prior experience, remember? She was a high school kid and she learned. And you'll have me in your ear to talk you through it."

"Thanks," Paige half stood and gave Happy an impulsive one armed hug.

"No big deal. I mean, we're friends…" she paused and Paige chimed in, " _ish_." The two women grinned at each other.

"It won't be an issue either way," Walter stated cryptically. "I've already got that part figured out."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Another day, another launch.

At what point had abnormal become normal? About the time she'd joined Scorpion, that's when. Her life had certainly never been boring since.

Paige sat in the pilot's seat. That's correct. _Pilot's_ seat.

Fortunately for herself, her fellow crew members, and the entire population of the Earth, the autopilot was engaged. Happy assured her the craft was as easy to operate as a self-driving car. She stared at the green light on the dashboard. Was it even called a dashboard in a spacecraft? She was trusting her life to an itty-bitty LED light on an instrument panel she couldn't even call by the proper name. She started to wonder if the flight suit was waterproof. It felt like her bladder could let go at any moment. Or she might barf in the helmet still sitting on her lap.

No. _NO_. She was trusting her life to the same group of geniuses who'd saved her and each other time and time again. They'd proven themselves trustworthy multiple times throughout the years.

"How you holding up?" Toby's voice asked through the comm device in her ear.

She couldn't even swallow her own spit and her stomach was doing flip-flops. "Peachy."

"Sly and Ralph are rechecking all the coordinates," the shrink continued in a pacifying tone, "And we're all going to stay in constant communication with you. Try not to worry."

The ball of panic in her belly was threatening to erupt as a scream. "Where's Walter?" Paige knew her unsteady voice made her sound whiny and pathetic, but it couldn't be helped.

The previous day, after Walter thoroughly checked over the rover himself, they'd spent the rest of the evening as a family, the three of them. Walter, Ralph and Paige. Like it should've always been. They'd eaten dinner together and talked, like old times. The best times of her life. Each one staunchly refused to discuss the upcoming mission. Afterwards, they'd all gone to bed late. Her son hugged her hard before retiring. She hated seeing the fear on his young face. Paige didn't know if Ralph was able to get much sleep, but she and Walter had passed the rest of the night making love and planning for a future neither was sure would have the chance to become reality.

She hadn't heard from Walter since he'd kissed her prior to her climb down into the capsule. They'd clung together as if trying to cram a lifetime of love in that single embrace, until the unsympathetic captain threatened to separate them bodily.

"Oh, he's around. You'll be hearing from him soon," Toby promised vaguely.

Paige had no chance to reply. The bay doors slid open like a curtain at a play, revealing blackness and stars and the pitted, gray curve of the moon. The roller coaster had reached its pinnacle and was about to send her hurtling into nothingness. Where the hell was Walter?

She jammed the helmet down on her head and double and triple checked her shoulder straps. "Ralph? Baby?"

"I'm here, Mom. Be safe. Okay?"

"I will. Love you. Tell Walter I love him too…" The last part of her sentence was drowned out by the firing of the rover's powerful engine. Oh,shit oh,shit oh,shit oh,shit! She managed to contain the words, but barely.

The lander shot from the bay like a bullet from a gun, the force gluing her in place. Her gaze was fixed on that little green autopilot light, the vibrations making it smear before her eyes as her teeth rattled in her head.

Suddenly, the panel lit up like a marquee before going dark. As in completely black. With no comforting green light left to be seen.


	11. Ampersand

INVASTION EVASION

 **AN: I was happy to see all the updates and new stories this week! Love it! Keep 'em coming. And please don't forget to leave reviews for all the writers. It's** **the only reward we get for publishing. Thanks bunches!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

Paige tried to call for help, but the words were forced back down her throat by the momentum. She slammed her eyes shut hoping to see the autopilot indicator illuminated when she made herself open them again. Instead she only saw the rocky lunar surface looming closer through the windscreen.

Happy's voice sounded tinny and distorted in her ear, "Hey, waitress! Open up the hatch!"

She strained to push an answer out of her mouth, the vibration making her teeth chatter. "What-t-t hatch?"

"Behind you. On the floor."

Paige rocked her body in the chair so she could look behind her. Sure enough, she spied a metal ring and could see the rectangular outline of a door. A rhythmic thumping was coming from underneath that door. She'd assumed it was caused by unsecured tools or supplies escaping their containers in the low gravity.

Her reach wasn't quite long enough to turn the ring and release the hatch door. Her fingers scrabbled uselessly a few frustrating millimeters away from the goal. She would need to unfasten her shoulder belt.

"Hurry it up!" Happy's warped voice urged.

Paige released the catch on her harness, but clung with all her might to the strap so she wouldn't be tossed around in the tiny cockpit. If she stretched, she could just touch the ring, but couldn't exert enough pressure to turn it.

What the hell. If she didn't do what Happy said, and soon, she was going to crash land anyway.

Paige threw herself out of the chair, trying to pounce on the hatch. Well, it was a good thought anyway. Until she found herself flipped upside-down and pinned to the back wall of the cockpit.

By the tips of her fingers, she clawed her way back and gripped the ring. It took her a couple of tries, but she was eventually able to twist it in the correct direction.

The hatch door snapped open, flinging her back against the wall again. A bubble-headed stowaway unfurled and rose from the opening.

It took her a few moments of serious freaking out to realize it was Walter in a fishbowl space helmet like hers. Paige called his name but he ignored her as he struggled to pull himself toward the pilot's seat. She blinked hard a couple of times, hoping to prove to herself he was more than a hallucination.

Real or imaginary, Walter grabbed the armrest and wrenched himself into the seat, fastening the harness one handed while he held himself in place with the other hand. He yanked a bundle of wires out from under the instrument panel.

All the while, Paige could hear Happy yelling rapid fire technical terms, suggestions and instructions. He didn't reply. His eyes darted around the panel as he disentangled the thick wad of electrical pasta. He shut a length of wire in the metal covering of what looked to be a fuse compartment. He used the little door to strip the coating then twisted the loose copper threads to another wire. The instrument panel flickered once then the lights came on solid before flashing numerous warnings. No Christmas tree had ever been so beautiful. Even with all the alarms blaring.

Walter flipped some switches and punched some buttons. When nothing changed, he slapped both sides of his helmet.

"The autopilot didn't come back on line with the power. Sly! See if you can switch to remote and get that stupid pile of crap the hell down to the surface. Preferably in one piece," Happy ordered.

Sylvester's terrified voice came through next, "I'll have to reboot. My screen is frozen."

"We don't have that much time!" Happy yelped.

Ralph calmly responded, "It's okay. I'm in. I'm taking over control… The rover should be leveling out right about… now."

Sure enough the lander began to decelerate and it steadily came out of the almost vertical nosedive.

Everyone was murmuring compliments and encouragement to the boy as he got the craft under control and executed a near-perfect touchdown. There were many relieved whoops sounding through the comms.

The young genius said nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? It really wasn't much different from playing a video game. I probably coulda done it in my sleep."

"Would you listen to that? He's a total Walter Junior. With cheese," Toby muttered.

No one but Paige seemed to notice the rover was continuing to coast once it set down and a huge crater was yawning about a hundred yards in front of them.

"Walter! Look!" she cried, pointing out the window. "We're still moving!"

"Yes. You'll have to engage the land brakes, dummy! Pull back on the stick," Happy exclaimed.

Walter grabbed the stick and pulled back with all his weight. The rover gradually began to slow as the crater grew ever closer.

It finally came to a halt inches from the lip.

Everyone exhaled.

Paige tore her eyes from the dark pit and loped over. She threw her arms around Walter's shoulders causing their helmets to crack together. "I don't know how you're here. I don't know why you're here. But I'm _so_ glad you're here!"

Walter touched a fat, gloved finger to the front of his helmet in a hushing gesture. "Not now," he mouthed.

Paige frowned, but nodded, "Can someone tell me how far off course I am? How far is the alien base from here?"

"About 8 kilometers, give or take," Sly answered.

"It's just us Americans now. Can you give that to me in miles?" Paige asked.

"That's roughly 5 miles," Florence explained.

"Oh. That won't be too hard of a hike, I guess. Even with heavy equipment, since the gravity is so much less."

Everyone started laughing.

"What? What am I missing?"

"Mom, it's over 200 degrees outside that rover," Ralph said, still snickering, "We were supposed to land it at sunrise a few of our days ago. That would've helped some with of the heat. But thanks to the captain's long delay, it's about mid-morning there. And while your suit and the lack of atmosphere will disperse the heat some, you still don't want to be outside the capsule or the base for long periods."

"What am I supposed to do?"

Walter was gesturing, but she couldn't tell what he was trying to show her.

"The rover is equipped to drive too. Kinda like a big-ass dune buggy." Happy clarified. Paige could hear the rolling of eyes in her tone.

Tired of being dismissed as the ignorant 'normal', Paige was about to bite back when she took a stumbling step backwards. Walter had thrown the vehicle into reverse. She stomped on the hatch door to close it before turning to plop down into the co-pilot/passenger seat. It was a much more comfortable spot for her for many reasons.

Clouds of dark gray dust billowed up all around them, making visibility lousy, as if they were enveloped in a dense, swirling fog bank. It didn't appear to bother Walter. His eyes never left a small screen on the instrument panel. Green lines bisected, waved and curved across it. It would occasionally beep some sort of warning and he would swerve right or left presumably to navigate around obstacles or deep craters. The ride was jarring and bumpy nevertheless. And slow. It seemed like they crept along for hours.

When they finally came to a halt, they watched in silence while the dust gradually dissipated, settling and clinging to every exposed surface of the lander. Walter pointed, and through the dirt-encrusted windshield, Paige could just make out the hazy outline of a sprawling structure. Honeycombed domes were connected by tunnels fanned out in a circular pattern, not unlike a wagon wheel or a spider web.

She shivered picturing herself as the fly about to be caught for a hungry alien spider's dinner. Exactly how long had this base been here observing Earth undetected?

Walter removed his comm and gestured for her to do the same. The thick gloves were cumbersome and awkward, so it took her a few tries to be able to wedge one under the helmet and pluck the device from her ear.

They traded unsure smiles.

"Sorry," he said at the same time she said, "Thank you."

With the electronic communications turned off, it was difficult to hear each other. They had to lip read and use hand signals a lot.

"I want to keep my whereabouts a secret as long as I'm able. It won't be long before the captain figures it out, but for now I want her to think you're down here alone."

That made sense. "Okay. I understand. What do we do now?" Paige asked.

"We figure out a way to send a robot into that structure. Before we can set foot inside, we must test for pathogens or toxic gases, radiation, that sort of thing. Also, it would be helpful to map the inside as much as possible. Let me get Virgyl up and running."

"Virgyl?"

"Yep. Same general design as the device we used at Chernobyl. Virtual Reality Gyroscopic Laborer. Remember?" Walter grinned at her.

"What I remember is Happy naming it 'Randy'." Paige smiled back, teasingly.

"Well, Virgyl is superior in every way. He does much more than simply register radiation levels, so the old moniker doesn't fit. Besides, Randy is melted. The only Scorpion Team Member that's a permanent resident of Chernobyl."

"May he rest in peace." Paige chuckled.

Walter squatted down and started digging through the tool bins in the hatch. She peeked over his shoulder into the opening.

"How in the world did you fit in there?" She asked.

"It was tight, I assure you. Happy concealed me in here this morning when she was loading in the other equipment. Toby created a distraction. He excels at that particular skill. It's a good thing I did." His expression turned grim, "because even after all the checks we did, someone managed to sabotage the autopilot. I-I hate to think… Never mind. It's illogical to dwell on what might've happened." He unearthed a carefully insulated packing crate and began unwrapping robot parts, setting them one by one on the floor.

Paige tapped her helmet against Walter's and patted his arm with one pudgy-gloved hand. "It's not your fault. You and Happy both went over this lander with a fine-toothed comb yesterday. I know you did. How did it happen, do you think? How did someone get to it?"

He began to snap the parts together. She became his scrub tech, handing him tools or components as he indicated. "It had to be someone with very high clearance, that's for sure. And some knowledge of engineering or mechanics. I sent an encrypted message to Cabe via satellite. He's checking a few things out for me."

"Cabe? The same Cabe I know? The one who thinks Instagram is hot cereal? And Google is something you wear to protect your eyes? That Cabe? He's not exactly a tech-savvy hacker."

Walter tried tightening a screw, but his fingers were made too clumsy by the gloves. He stripped them off and tossed them aside. "I get that, believe me. But since we already know the culprit has high clearance, it's too risky to research anything ourselves. We have to assume every keystroke is monitored aboard the shuttle. Besides, Cabe has law enforcement contacts and I mostly have him running background checks. He's just gathering intel on certain other crew members for now."

"Who?"

"A few that Toby noticed were acting shady."

"For instance?" Paige prodded.

Walter glanced around as if looking for more stowaways. "My bet's on…" he mouthed the rest, "Captain Huang." His lip curled in disgust.

"Well, that would make things a whole lot more complicated."

"Agreed. Another reason we can't discuss our suspicions in the open." He snapped the last loose part on the robot and switched it on. He picked up the remote and tested a few functions. Looking pleased, he said, "Virgyl's adequately assembled and ready for the mission. Make sure your suit is airtight before we let down the ramp. Breathing in the regolith is dangerous for humans."

Walter stood and opened the cockpit door into the aft portion of the lander while Paige checked the fastenings on her suit. They made their way past the bunks and entered the airlock leading to the exit ramp, the robot trundling between them like an obedient mechanical dog.

"Regolith?"

"Yes. Moon dust. It is mostly created by mechanical erosion caused by impact, so the particles have sharper edges. It's completely inorganic so there's no oxygen or moisture content like there is in Earth's soil and dust. Regolith is easily electromagnetically charged, so it clings to everything. It's very irritating to the eyes and the respiratory tract and it's even thought to be harmful to the nervous system with long-term exposure."

Walter switched the remote to his right hand and grasped the ramp's release with his other hand.

His _bare_ hand!

"Walter, stop!" Paige warned just as he pulled the lever.

The ramp eased open while he looked at her in askance. "What?" It dropped heavily on the ground and a large eddy of moon dust shot into the airlock, some of it jetting straight up the sleeves of his space suit.

Paige watched in horror as the inside of Walter's helmet turned a smoky gray, obscuring his surprised face.


	12. Pause

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Happy Fri-yay, everyone! Hope this starts your weekend off right:**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"Walter! Don't breathe! I'm going to help you. Just try not to inhale!"

There would be time to panic later. For now, Paige had to stay in control because Walter's safety depended on it.

She flipped the lever back up to close the ramp and waited excruciating seconds while the hydraulics squealed and whined, taking sweet time Walter didn't have, lifting the stupid thing into place. The airlock door wouldn't budge until the damned ramp was fully shut.

The second it was closed, she smacked her palm to the button that opened the airlock door. When the gap was scarcely wide enough, she squeezed inside and dragged Walter by the elbow behind her. He staggered after her blindly. She could hear the muffled sounds of him suppressing coughs.

She sat him on the edge of a bunk, jerked the helmet off of his head and tossed it aside. His hair was blue-gray with dust that sifted down and settled on his shoulders and back. He had his eyes screwed tightly shut. Even so, they were streaming, leaving thin, muddy trails on his cheeks. She brushed the sediment from his nose and mouth the best she could while wearing the cumbersome gloves.

"You can breathe now if you try to keep it shallow. And don't open your eyes yet. I'm going to get my comm. I think we're going to need Toby's help with this."

Walter nodded once and began to take shallow sips of air through his mouth while Paige dashed to the cockpit.

She pulled off her own helmet, found her ear bud and stuffed it in. "Toby! Hey! Are you there? I need your help!"

"I am afraid Doctor Curtis is unavailable at present," the captain's voice replied smoothly, "Before you tell me what you require, how about _you_ tell _me_ where I can find your husband? He seems to have gone missing."

What the hell was she supposed to do now? Think fast, that's what!

"I have no idea, but… um, I accidentally inhaled some, uh, moon dust. I'm in dire need of medical advice. _Please_." Paige faked a couple of coughs she hoped were convincing.

"I will let you speak with a different medic in a minute. But before I do, I will leave you with this warning: If I find out your husband is with you, both of you will be facing unpleasant consequences. As will anyone who assisted him. Including your son who, I remind you, is on the shuttle with me. I will require frequent status reports on your condition and the particulars of the mission. I will be monitoring your progress closely. That is all. For now."

A doctor with a heavy Eastern European accent, who called himself Yakub, talked Paige through some basic first aid for the situation. He told her she would probably suffer from hay fever-like symptoms for a few days, but if she cleaned up quickly and properly, there should be no lasting effects. She thanked him and removed her comm.

Paige saturated a couple of washcloths with warm water and used one to thoroughly clean off Walter's hands. When that was done, she gave him the other to wipe his face.

"Yakub told me to get you to the eye wash station. He said we need to flush out your eyes for at least two minutes."

"Who's Yakub?" Walter croaked.

"Let's handle one crisis at a time, shall we?"

Paige filled Walter in on the latest from the captain when they'd finished tending to him.

"She threatened Ralph?!" Walter rasped the indignant words from his raw throat. "That's intolerable." His resentful outburst promptly set him off into a coughing jag, tears leaking from beneath his puffy eyelids.

Paige rubbed a comforting hand between his shoulder blades. "I know. I know. I was afraid if I told her off she would make it worse for the whole team. I keep telling myself he's with Happy, Toby and Sylvester. And-and even Florence. They'll do what they can to protect him. I'm sure of it." She hoped Walter was more convinced than she was.

He nodded and took a wheezing breath. "They will. As much as they're able. But it's more imperative than ever that we finish this mission and get back up there as quickly as we can. I'll reach out to Ralph via our encoded link. See if I can find out what's going on. Then we've got to get the robot in there and start testing."

Paige had to be Walter's eyes as his were too irritated to stare at a computer screen for very long. Between the two of them, they managed to drive the little robot across the moon's crust to the compound. Finding an opening turned out to be embarrassingly easy. The beings who'd occupied the base must have used robots of their own to carry messages and take pictures or samples, because there was a portal beside each airlock door that resembled a large cat flap of all things. In defense of the aliens' lack of security, there wasn't much risk of intruders. Once through the swinging outer door there was an odd sound like a humming squeal and a jet of steam engulfed Virgyl. Readings of the water vapor showed a trace of sodium hypochlorite. When Paige asked, Walter explained it was a very dilute amount of a bleach solution.

Another shrill beep and a few measured clicks and an inner panel slid open to admit the robot.

Once past the portal, Virgyl started 'sniffing'. He took samples of air and initial readings of temperature and radiation levels as Paige guided him down long, dim corridors. Pictures and data began to pour in. Paige allowed the information to flow through an open channel back to the shuttle to be analyzed. What Virgyl 'saw' was pretty incredible. The walls were made from a shimmery copper material that looked opaque from the outside, but from the interior they were transparent, only lending a slight iridescent amber tint to objects outside. It was like looking through a two-way mirror. There was no other light source within the structure, only the reflected light from the sun.

It was a cool 75 degrees in every part of the base with absolutely no fluctuation in temperature anywhere. The air was a bit more oxygen rich, reading a full 25% to only 75% nitrogen, than what they were accustomed to back on Earth. But Walter assured Paige it was definitely breathable for humans. The absence of argon and carbon dioxide told them no plants or rocks were housed in there. At least none similar to those found at home.

Virgyl didn't pick up any traces of pathogens. In fact, there was no trace of bacteria or viruses at all. Anywhere. It was like the base had been sterilized or an entire race of Sylvesters had designed the place. Or there'd never been any organic material or carbon-based life anywhere near it. Ever. But if the whole place had only ever been occupied by machines, why would the air need to be breathable? It was certainly a puzzle.

After hours of watching Virgyl trundling down hallways and through doors that slid open automatically as it approached, they also noted there were no living quarters to speak of. There were no kitchens, bathrooms or bedrooms. They could find no faucets, tanks or other water sources either.

Paige kept searching for items that might be considered personal. There was nothing. Every object was gleaming metal and glaring white. They looked functional rather than decorative. Even the glass-fronted storage compartments and cabinets were spotless with no smudges or blotches to mar their perfect surfaces. Anything they contained was lined up in precision rows. Not a speck of dust could be found anywhere even though the moon's surface was rife with it.

The little robot finally made its way to the central hub, the largest igloo-like dome in the middle of the wagon wheel where all the 'spokes' connected. The vast room had the appearance of a command and communication center, but while a low level hum told them the equipment was powered on, there were no indicator lights or visual monitors anywhere they could see.

As bad as Walter felt due to the regolith exposure, Paige could tell he was fascinated and was itching to get inside and explore things in person. She, on the other hand, wanted to be cautious and make sure there were no hidden dangers lurking in the oddly pristine environment.

Paige was feeding all the data to the experts in the shuttle who seemed every bit as excited as Walter. In return, the various scientists kept suggesting more and more tests to run.

While she was hard-pressed to keep up with everyone else's enthusiasm, Walter finally heard back from Ralph. The boy was fine physically, but was seriously cheesed off. The captain had separated and confined the whole Scorpion crew to quarters during the mission, so the young genius was cooling his heels in his berth entertaining himself with mutiny plots and chafing at the bit. Walter assigned him the task of helping design a bolster for the rover's fuel tank wall to give him something constructive to occupy his mind. The grateful mother in Paige rejoiced. Walter truly was the best father for her son.

Much later, fatigue settled into Paige's neck, shoulder and back muscles, making them ache. And her eyes were feeling the strain from watching scrolling data, typing and reading messages and staring at poorly lit images. It was Walter who reminded her, in his still scratchy voice, she'd been working for more than ten straight hours without a break. She was frankly surprised she'd been at it so long. Since the sun didn't set on the moon for another twenty-two Earth days, the passage of time hadn't been as noticeable for her.

She quickly messaged the shuttle crew to let them know she was shutting down to get some rest. There were many protests, but she chose to ignore them. As eager as she also was to complete the assignment and get back to her son, she knew if she didn't eat something and lie down for a few hours, she was going to start making serious mistakes. None of them could afford that.

As Paige removed her comm and checked to be sure all other communications had powered down, Walter peeked around the cockpit door and beckoned her to join him. His hands were full of the day's food and water rations they'd both been wholly ignoring once the robot was up and running through the labyrinthine rooms of the base.

He dumped the stash on one of the bunks and took Virgyl's remote from Paige's hand. "Here. I need to guide Virgyl outside so the solar panels will recharge the batteries. If we leave it parked inside while we sleep, the battery will die and we'd have to go in and retrieve it. Although, I'm pretty sure, after we've collated and analyzed all the data we've already gotten, you and I will be able to go inside ourselves soon."

Walter's wide grin reminded her of an eager little boy on Christmas Eve. He could barely contain his excitement. It was way too adorable.

Paige gave him an amused look. "Are you sure you're going to be able to sleep? You seem pretty amped up right now." The teasing glint in her eye turned to curiosity. "Wait. Stop. What's that?" She crowded over next to him and squinted into the screen. "Get Virgyl closer to that corner."

"I don't see anything." Walter frowned down at the darkened image.

"It looks like a cube. On the floor. Kind of in the shadows over there on the right. See it?"

The image was vague, but it did register. There was a blurry outline of small metallic box on the ground next to the wall.

Walter extended the robot's pincer.

There was a lightening-quick flash of movement, followed by a loud screech of metal on metal. After that, nothing could be seen or heard apart from the eerie, crackling static and the electronic snow that filled the screen.


	13. Print

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: As a writer, I have times when the words just pour out of me and I can hardly type fast enough. There are other times I have to pull them out like teeth. I had to do a dental extraction for this chapter. Thank you for your patience and I hope it was worth the wait.**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"It's back! It's back! Walter, look! The robot is back up and running!"

It was unnecessary to point it out. Walter had eyes. Even if they were still bloodshot and irritated. But after long hours of seeing the weird, alien world through Virgyl's camera lens, the little robot had become something of a pet to Paige and she was upset when it didn't respond. She couldn't stand the thought of it being destroyed. Either that or she was simply sleep deprived or this space mission had finally driven her completely mad. Maybe Virgyl was her personal version of 'Wiiiilson'? No matter the reason, she was stupid relieved when it came back online.

Still clutching the remote, Walter did a quick diagnostic test on the systems. "Huh. Must've been a power surge. We'll need to use caution when approaching one of those cube things again. I'm guessing they emit an energy pulse of some sort. Whatever it was, it caused Virgyl's system to shut down and reboot." He maneuvered the robot into a 180 degree turn with his thumb on the remote's joystick, "Bringing it outside to recharge now. I'll make it do a data dump to the rover's and shuttle's computer systems while it charges. Maybe that will keep the scientists up there busy for a few hours so we can get some rest."

Rest. Yes. That sounded better than perfect.

As new as their reconciliation was, sex was the last thing on their minds as they readied for bed. The day had been stressful and exhausting and Walter still didn't feel great. His throat was raw, his nose was stuffy and his eyes were still watery. But, by tacit agreement, they both climbed into the same narrow bunk anyway, because what they did crave was closeness and the comfort of familiarity.

Paige feared she might not be able to sleep. The combination of concern over and the distance away from her son and the unknown elements of the mission were weighing heavily on her mind. Being tangled up with Walter, however, always managed to reassure and center her. As long as they were close, she felt like everything would work out fine. Delusion or not, it was enough to help her relax and eventually drop off.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Upon waking, the duo immediately started the testing processes again. The gravity of the situation was in stark contrast to the lack of gravity on the moon and they both felt the importance of finishing successfully sooner rather than later.

Walter set Paige the task of running what he called repetitive diagnostics. In 'normal' words, that meant it was a mostly mindless task. There was a collection of variables that had to be entered in different orders to find correct sequences. It was tedious. Not to mention, staring at scrolling numbers made her feel cross-eyed after a while. She was glad to do it though, because it left the genius free to poke around with Virgyl looking for potential materials to bolster the fuel reservoir.

Both jobs were high priority, not to mention the ever-pressing issue of locating the source of an ambiguous threat.

In his search, Walter spied several more of the cube-shaped objects scattered around usually on the floor level near entryways. For the time being, he gave them a wide berth even as he carefully noted the location of each one he discovered.

Paige wondered aloud if they could they be weapons of some sort. Walter explained he didn't think it was likely as the energy discharge seemed to have a limited range and it was only minimally damaging. So far, they'd found nothing that might be considered dangerous. It was puzzling. Not to mention frustrating as the hours and minutes stole steadily by.

In the middle of the second day, Walter received an alert on his tablet for an incoming message on their secure link.

"Calling all O'Briens. Come in, John and Yoko. Do you read? Hey, did you guys even realize you're having an actual honey _moon_? How many couples get to say that? One. I didn't even need Sly for those computations…"

Walter tapped his tablet to answer. "What is it, Toby? We're a little busy here. Oh, and are you positive this communiqué is completely secure and undetectable?"

"I'm offended. Mine might be the lowest genius IQ on the team, a fact none of you will let me forget, but even _I_ know enough to have the highest IQ on the team check it out first." Ralph leaned his head around the screen and gave them a quick wave.

"Ralph!" Paige exclaimed, overcome with gratitude and relief to see her son's face. "The captain allowed you two out of your rooms?"

"Not exactly," the boy replied, "I'm 'sick' and I needed a doctor's visit."

Before 'worried mom' mode could kick in, Toby explained, "Meaning he hacked into the medical rotation schedule and added a house call appointment to my growing list. I'm in very high demand, you know. Lots of fans."

"You guys need to be careful! Every keystroke is being scrutinized. At least that's what the captain told me. You could get yourselves in even worse trouble," Paige scolded, talking over the shrink's usual flippant nonsense.

Ralph gave her a crooked smile. " _Please_. Mom. Like I'd make it obvious? Who do you think set up those tracking protocols?"

"What's the news?" Walter asked brusquely. Leave it to him to cut through the crap and get straight to the point.

"Everyone up here is jim-dandy. Thanks for asking. Must be more of a horny-moon than a honeymoon. If he was getting any action, he wouldn't be as testy. Am I right?" Toby grumbled.

Ralph's expression turned slightly nauseated. "Gross!" the teen said while nudging a sharp elbow into Toby's side.

"The real urgency of contacting you has to do with what Ralph heard from Cabe while you two are _not_ doing naughty stuff down there." Neither rose to the bait apart from giving him a couple of exasperated looks, so he continued, "The background of our fearsome leader revealed some interesting information, so Ralphy-boy did a little discreet digging of his own. Oh, captain. Our very own Captain Huang left a husband languishing back on Earth. I know, right? I mean, ugh. Someone actually married that shrew? Can you believe it? Obviously there was no taming involved. Don't get me wrong. I like a strong woman as much as the next guy. Look at Happy…"

"Okay. That's very interesting, I'm sure. But could we maybe get the Cliff Notes version?" Paige interrupted.

"Sheesh. Only adding some interesting factoids. The lady thinks I doth digress too much?"

"To _by!_ "

"All _right_. Keep your hair on. Anyway, the illustrious Mr. Huang was one of the chief engineers on the original Chinese Test-the-Far-Side-of-the-Moon-for-Cheese-or-Other-Dairy-Substances mission. He was instrumental in their success. But the captain's application for his inclusion was denied just days after Happy's was accepted. What wife wants to be told her husband's presence would be considered redundant? Needless to say, Paige's last-minute inclusion was yet another hard slap in the face."

"So, this is about revenge, then?" Walter asked.

"Not entirely. I mean, the part where she sabotaged the rover and sent your wife on a suicide mission? Probably. Or it could be she was trying to prove her husband would've been the better choice for engineer. But think about it. She also killed the plants. She jettisoned the biodome materials. She clearly doesn't want there to be an Option B. She is highly motivated to save Earth and return there."

"That's stupid. All of us want that same outcome. She's not being rational," Walter said. His expression was all impatience and confusion.

Paige laid a hand on his arm. "Love isn't rational. We should know."

"Yes. You're right. We do have first hand experience."

They shared a melting look.

Ralph smirked when Toby pretended to gag. "If you two lovebirds can manage to stop fluttering your eyelashes at each other for all of ten seconds, we need to fill you in on the shuttle happenings too. Things are escalating for the rest of us here. Not all of us are marooned in a nifty little love nest far, far away from authority figures who wish we would shuffle off this mortal coil. In case you're interested, we're all still technically confined to quarters unless we have work to do that requires our presence elsewhere. Genius minds are terrible things to waste. Plus, if we're expiring of boredom, it means we're employing those genius minds to plot more and more dangerous ways of escape. And if that wasn't bad enough, Huang has cut back our rations to the bone. She says it's to conserve resources while you both are wasting time down there, but it feels more like it's punitive on our end. For now, Sly and Ralph have programmed a work-around hack for the dispensers, but I don't know how long it'll last before she figures it out and puts a stop to it."

Paige's heart plummeted to her middle. "She's trying to _starve_ you?! Wait til I get back up there…"

"Please make it sooner rather than later before this becomes like a cruise ship and we start disappearing overboard with no one the wiser…"

"Don't tell her that!" Ralph interjected. "Mom, we're going to be fine. I promise. Just… try to hurry. Okay?"

Walter's eyes went flinty hard. "She's not going to get away with this. Paige and I going into that base. Today. Then we're coming back to the shuttle. And I'll figure out a way to deal with her."

"That's the spirit, 197!"

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Ready?" Walter asked for the third time, before he took a moment and tested her gloves, helmet and all fastenings, patting them firmly down into place. Again.

It was rare for him to fuss. But he was definitely fussing. She couldn't blame him. She was obsessively looking him over too. She had no desire for a repeat of the regolith exposure incident. For either of them.

"All set," Paige replied with an unsure smile. She was apprehensive to say the least, but determined to search that structure until they found the answers they needed. When they came back triumphant, the captain would have no more excuses to incarcerate the team.

"No matter what, we stay together. Got it?" Walter reemphasized for the umpteenth time.

She gave a brisk nod. "I know better. In every horror movie I've ever watched, that's when the people die. When they split up." She emitted a nervous laugh.

"This is serious. Don't make light of it. We have no idea what to expect."

"I know, Walter. I was only trying to lighten the mood a little." She placed her gloved palm on her face shield, puckered up and made an exaggerated kissing sound. Then she touched her same hand to the front of his helmet. "A kiss for luck."

"I don't believe in luck. But I'll take the kiss anyway," His eyes twinkled at her, the disquiet behind them lessening, which was her intention.

"When we figure all this out, there are lots more where that came from." She gave him a saucy wink. "When I get done with you, you might even start believing in getting lucky too."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Walter flipped the lever and the ramp gave a mechanical clunk then began descending.

Their suits were cooled and insulated, but Paige could swear she could feel the blast-furnace like heat rushing inside, riding along on the thick eddy of dust the ramp kicked up. The lack of gravity made their steps into odd shuffling bounces as they moved together toward the unknown.

He grasped her hand, his fat, gloved fingers awkwardly lacing with hers. The gesture steadied the two of them both physically and emotionally.

For a moment she was able to put all the anxiety aside and the reality of the experience hit her all at once. This was completely unfathomable. Who would have ever dreamed? Certainly not her. She'd wished to be many things in her life. A cheerleader. An athlete. A singer. A mother. A wife. But this? This had never been a fantasy of hers.

Not only was she the first female astronaut to land on the moon, Paige Dineen was about to be the first woman to ever walk on it. A Paige in history that no one would ever read. She bit her lip to keep from giggling. The reaction didn't seem to fit with the importance of the moment.

She paused at the edge, turned to Walter, and grinning, said, "One small step for a woman, one giant leap for womankind."

With that, they each carefully set a booted foot on the moon's surface.


	14. End

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: FINALLY! I know, right? Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but here you go.**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"I think the data from your next batch of samples is ready to be sent for analysis."

" _Squeal-sqEEEeeal-beep-beeEEp-click_."

Walter slapped his hands over his ears. "First, would you see if there's anything you can do about that thing? It's really distracting."

" _Ping. Click-clang-waaaaaail-scrEEEEEEEch-ding-ding-bEep_."

Paige gave the love of her life a dirty look, but she dared not speak her mind. Because ever since they'd thrown caution to the wind and decided to remove their space suits once inside the space station's command center, every time either of them spoke a word, a stupid cube identical to the one that zapped their robot emitted these strange, shrill and completely annoying sounds. Like a loud demon had possessed a fax machine or something.

What did Walter expect _her_ to do about it? He was the tech genius. Couldn't he figure out how to make it shut the hell up?

They were both extremely frustrated with their lack of progress in finding the potential threat and also with the scientists in the mother ship who kept pestering them constantly with suggestions and demands for more samples. She sorely wanted to give them a few suggestions of her own.

Paige snatched her helmet off the counter and stalked over near the offending object.

"Careful," Walter cautioned.

" _Squaawww-awk_."

"Shut up!" Paige snapped at the blathering block from hell.

" _Chime-beep_!"

Standing poised to drop her helmet to over it and hopefully to, at least, muffle the irksome noises, she reminded it testily, "I said, shut _up_!"

" _Ting-blatt. Chime-_ _ **beep**_."

Okay. That was a little freaky. Was the thing mocking her? Her eyes darted over briefly to see if Walter was watching her. Nope. He was up to his eyebrows in building schematics trying to find hidden storage spaces or unexplored passageways; anything that might house a prospective hazard to all of humanity.

She felt a bit silly as she squatted down in front of the cube and whispered, "Shut up."

" _Chime-beep_ ," it repeated softly.

Was she having a bizarre, spacey flashback to the 90s when she and her friends used to amuse themselves with a Yak Bak Warpr?

"Hey, Walter. Come here a sec," she called, ignoring the electronic, babbling feedback.

"Not a good time," he replied shortly, frowning and rubbing at his temples when the cube fired off another string of ear-splitting sounds.

"Humor me." Paige dropped her helmet over the cube, so they could have a somewhat uninterrupted conversation. She stood and faced Walter. "Okay, don't laugh, but I think this thing is imitating us."

He gave her a skeptical look. "Why? What would be the purpose?"

"How should I know? An alien's idea of a hilarious joke? Just listen. Then you can tell me if I'm only imagining things." She lifted the helmet and repeated the 'shut up' experiment a few times while Walter listened intently, his expression pensive.

Paige covered the cube again and stood. "Well? Am I crazy?"

A knowing grin spread across his face. Oh, what that smile always did to her.

"Paige! You're brilliant!" He grasped her shoulders and gave her a hard, smacking kiss right on the mouth, substantially increasing those flutters the smile had started in her belly.

Down, girl. They didn't have time for a 'passionate encounter' at the moment.

"What?" she asked breathlessly, smiling back daftly. She was _so_ stupid in love with this guy.

"It's a translator! It's translating our words into whatever form of language the aliens use."

"So, Joe Alien speaks Synthesizer? How does that help us exactly?"

"So far, we haven't found any keyboards or monitors anywhere. No touch screens. No buttons. Not even so much as a mouse. Nothing. I was literally just thinking everything must be voice command activated when you called me over. That presents a real problem if we don't speak their language." He waggled his eyebrows. Since when had she started thinking his geeking-out was incredibly sexy? Who was she kidding? Since always. Some lunar nookie was definitely in order as soon as possible. Once they took care of all the pesky alien issues. "But we do now."

He stooped and reached out like he was about to pick up the device. Paige grabbed his arm to stop him. "Walter! What are you doing? What if you get a handful of volts?"

"That's highly unlikely. I think the shock Virgyl sustained must've been a malfunction. None of the other cubes appear to be emitting an electrical charge of any kind. There's a square indention in the central command module. I believe the translator is meant to plug into it."

"Still. You don't know for sure. At least glove up. Please? For me? I kinda like having you around."

They shared a sappy grin before Walter quickly complied, sliding a glove on over his hand. He was able to pick up the cube without incident. When he plugged it in, it fit perfectly. Once connected, it vibrated with a subtle hum.

He gave Paige two enthusiastic thumbs up. One gloved, one not to cover all bases.

Neither was too excited several fruitless minutes later after they'd asked the translator over and over to show them what they needed to know. They had rephrased the command in every conceivable way. The cube would repeat it in electronic gibberish and the computer would answer in electronic gibberish. Then the cube would feed the same response back to them each and every time in the same eerie, inflectionless English.

"Faulty command. Unable to comply."

Paige was ready to throw the damned translator across the room. "Maybe it's your hearing that's 'faulty'. Did you ever think about that?" She was yelling at inanimate objects. Maybe being on the moon had made her go truly loony?

Her snippy words caused Walter to become thoughtful again. It wasn't long before he started muttering to himself. "Hearing Impaired. Yes. It could be. It makes sense…"

"You wanna fill me in, here?"

"Instead of having faulty hearing, perhaps they're blind."

More confused than before, she asked on a sigh, "What are you talking about now?"

He was murmuring mostly to himself when he answered. "I think our hosts must've been sightless beings. We keep asking the computer to _show_ us. What if the computer simply doesn't understand the command?"

Without waiting to explain further, he instructed the translator one more time. "State your entire purpose for Earth?"

They both waited impatiently through the beeps and whistles that followed. They could tell the response was much lengthier. That, at least, was a good sign.

When the cube began speaking in its monotone, mechanical English, it wasn't long before a chill of dread washed over Paige.

"Earth. Colloquial name human inhabitants call the planet this moon orbits. Proper Classification: Colony MW26.4/1.0S12B3-5514. Sociological Behavior Observation of Developed Beings: Strong evidence of human devolvement. Regressing to animal urges and instincts coupled with lack of value for rational thought or reasoned decision making. Inability to cooperate for nominal common good. Atmospheric Declaration: Experiment Phase One failed due to presence and number of pollutants and high probability of slow self-extinction of all life forms by human carelessness and over population. Conclusion: Current path of evolution no longer sustainable. Stratagem for future use: Eliminate all carbon-based life forms using specified neutralizing toxins on -304353.85273972614. Allow for dissipation of toxins until -125876.82648401824. Begin new evolution with Phase Two RNA sequence on 874123.1735159818."

No sugar coating was offered to help them swallow that bitter pill. She could feel the dooming weight of the detached pronouncement even though Paige couldn't understand all of it. She once again dropped her helmet overtop the cube. She didn't want to hear any more.

She glanced over at Walter. Instead of appearing as alarmed as she was feeling, he was furiously scribbling equations on his tablet. Sometimes she sincerely envied his ability to shut off his feelings of fear.

He paused and chewed his lip, contemplating. "By my calculations, we're looking at roughly a seventeen hour window before the toxins are released into Earth's atmosphere. Hey. Uncover the cube. I have more questions and apparently no time to waste."

Paige reluctantly removed the buffer, but walked away, putting some distance between herself and the thing that was declaring the destruction of all life on her home planet so indifferently.

She worked on transmitting the sample data back to the shuttle and did her best to tune out all further discussion of catastrophic plans until Walter called out, "Paige! I think I've figured out the general location where the toxins are hidden. We need to get over there. Pronto."

"I'm almost done with this batch…"

He snatched up her helmet and his glove and rushed over to where the bulk of their space suits lay in heaps next to the door. "We need to go now," he reiterated, "I don't know how long it will take us to disarm the delivery method. I could really use Happy's expertise about now. Hurry. We'll need to suit up again."

Paige made a face. "Do we have to? That thing makes me look and feel like the Michelin Tire Man."

Walter gave her a funny look. "I don't know who that is. Nevertheless we can't risk exposure to this toxin. It's sequenced specifically to target certain genetics. Anything with DNA or even simple RNA would be affected. It halts all cell division. That would not be… a pleasant way to go."

She thrust one foot petulantly through the leg of the spongy, white monstrosity of a suit, wedging her toes into the built in boot. "So that's the plan these alien turds have for all of life on a whole planet? Halting our cell division or whatever? I guess we'd develop holes all over like Swiss cheese then eventually keel over?"

Walter shook his head while pulling the thick jacket on over his arms. "Oh, you would die long before it got to the stage where you fell apart. The average body makes about 2 to 3 million red blood cells every second. If that process was interrupted, your brain and organs would shut down from lack of oxygen first."

"Lovely." Paige plunked her helmet over her head and double checked all her fastenings. "Higher beings? Hah! More like a bunch of homicidal jerks!"

He held up a fat, gloved finger. "Technically it wouldn't be homicide because they aren't human. Homicide is defined as a human killing another. Not to mention they plan to wipe out animals, plants and even bacteria and viruses as well."

"Okay not homicidal. Just herbicidal, bactericidal, everything-icidal! Who cares! They're murderers! Where are we going?"

"Sector Three," Walter shrugged and grabbed Paige's hand, leading her out the door and presumably toward their goal. "Unfortunately, they don't see people as individuals worth saving. We are simply a failed experiment to them. It would be like us pouring gasoline on an anthill. That is how advanced they are compared with us."

She squeezed his hand. "Well, I think they suck. Obviously, they never studied you. Because if they did, they would realize humankind is worth saving."

Walter stopped in his tracks and turned to look over at her wearing a flabbergasted expression.

"What?" Paige asked.

"Do you really feel that way?"

Her lips curved up in a smile. "Yes."

"It's ridiculously untrue of course, but I can honestly say that is the single nicest compliment anyone has ever paid me. Thank you."

She leaned her head in the direction of his shoulder and banged her helmet into his in the process. "Stupid space suits. Is it so hard to believe that I love you? That I think the world of you?"

"Yes. Sometimes."

"I'm sorry I ever made you doubt it."

Paige wrapped her arms around one of his and they continued on toward Sector Three, wherever that was. She wasn't paying attention. She was too busy thinking up ways to make sure Walter knew how special she considered him. She decided he'd faced enough rejection in his life. It was time for him to know he was accepted fully. No matter what. She vowed, if they got out of this situation alive, she would spend the rest of her life convincing him.

Their progress ground to a halt in the hallway between two pods. Walter frowned down at his tablet in confusion. "I don't get it. We just left Sector Four, but this map says the door ahead of us is Sector Two. We appear to be standing within Sector Three, but I see no egress."

They both glanced around, shining their lights in different directions. Nothing.

Couldn't anything about this mission be easy? Paige rolled her eyes skyward and she noticed something lurking above them.

"Hey, Walt. Shine your light up."

They both trained the beams toward the amber-colored ceiling.

There it was. Sector Three. Crouching like a powerful predator atop the arched corridor readied to spring. They could see its evil intent plainly enough through the transparent material separating them. Huge, hulking missiles with wicked, pointed noses aiming their deadly payload toward the beautiful, vibrant blue world that was their home.

Well, they'd located the threat anyway.

Only one question remained. Could the lab rats find a way in and run the maze fast enough to stop it?


	15. Break

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: It's been a while *cough* three weeks *cough* since I've been able to work on this story. I apologize. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but** **I thought I'd better publish something or people were gonna give up on me! Happy Fri-yay!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

They'd tried absolutely everything.

Knives wouldn't pierce it. Flames wouldn't melt it. Even Virgyl's laser wouldn't puncture it. Or even make a scratch. So far it had proved indestructible.

Paige knew shouting obscenities at it wouldn't help either, but that realization didn't stop her from trying anyway.

Nope. It didn't help either.

The thin barrier between them and the rockets filled with deadly toxins designed to annihilate all of life on Earth stayed stubbornly intact, completely unfazed by each and every attempt to breach it. They could see the lethal devices. They could hear the seconds ticking by on their counters. And there wasn't a thing they could do about it.

At least the translation of the alien message had brought about one positive outcome. The captain had released the team members from their confinement and, in exchange, all of them stopped pretending they didn't know Walter's exact whereabouts or how he came to be there. Since colonizing Mars was no longer an option, working together, albeit grudgingly, to stop the impending disaster was the only logical way to proceed. Saving Earth was everyone's top priority. The enemy of my enemy and all that.

Walter had sent numerous pictures of the mechanisms to Happy for analyzing. She already had a pretty good idea of how to disconnect the weapons from their power source.

 _If_ they could only get to the stupid things.

Florence's face popped into view on the laptop's screen. "What's the chemical structure of the barrier?"

Walter sighed. "We've been unable to break off even a small shard for a proper sample."

"Have you thought about shining an infrared or ultraviolet light through it?"

He aimed a withering look at the chemist instead. "Of course. But we would need to have an instrument on the other side with a spectrometer to measure the wavelengths."

"Aren't all the outside walls made of the same stuff?" Sylvester's disembodied voice asked from somewhere out of view. "You could test one of them."

"Unsure. It appears to have all the same basic properties, but the outer walls are opaque on one side. These are transparent on both sides. At least I believe so. I won't know for sure until we get in there. _If_ we ever get in there."

"Hey, Walt," Happy crowded Florence aside and threw in another suggestion, "How about making rudimentary ion-selective electrodes using some of Virgyl's wiring? You could look for the presence of halogens in the barrier. Certain halogens exist naturally on the moon, remember."

"Yes. Yes. I see where you're going with that." Walter nodded, looking pensive. "If we could weaken the chemical structure…"

Florence chimed in, "Don't you have some sort of bleach solution in the lander for basic cleaning? If so, I could throw together a formula you could use."

"Someone wanna fill me in here?" Paige asked as if the geniuses surrounding her were speaking a foreign language. Perhaps she should go get one of the alien cubes to translate for her?

Ralph piped up and clarified, "If they find, say, chlorine present in the make up of the barrier, you can douse the walls with a concentrated bleach solution, drawing the ions together. That would break down the chemical structure. In theory, it should then become brittle enough to breach."

Paige still didn't quite understand. But it hardly mattered. "I'll go back to the shuttle and try to find something with bleach in it while you guys figure out the whole electrode… thing-y." She pointedly ignored the fond smirks and rolling eyes on the visible genius faces.

"Look around for a spray bottle too," Walter called after her, "and something to heat with. Like a bunch of those meal warmer packets or a propane torch. Or maybe something to use as kindling since nothing within the base appears to be flammable. We'll need to cook the bleach down to make a more concentrated solution."

Another precious hour passed while Walter fashioned electrodes and observed results. Paige simultaneously boiled down the bleach until they could taste the noxious fumes even through their breathing apparatuses.

This had to work. It _had_ to.

They were running out of time and options. More minutes were wasted while the chlorine cooled enough to handle without damaging their gloves. Paige had been unable to find a spray bottle, so they tore Walter's undershirt in half and saturated it with the mixture, the dark color of the cloth bleeding and leaching black blotches into the sickly yellow liquid.

It didn't help matters that the barrier was above their heads. They'd pulled a low metal table out of one of the labs and stood on it to reach. This position worked well for all their other attempts, but in this particular case, the viscous liquid, made thick from cooking, oozed down their arms and dripped globs on their face shields corroding the smooth surface and making it hard to see. Swiping at it with their sleeves only caused it to smear more.

However, after several minutes, the amber, transparent material began to thin and whiten in a few spots. Taking heart, the pair scrubbed harder until they had a sizable weakened area. Allowing it to dry first, Walter took a hammer and hit it as hard as he could. It warped slightly. After several blows, a small crack appeared. They kept striking the fissure over and over, taking turns when their arms got too tired from the awkward angle. The lack of gravity slowed progress to a crawl, but little by little, they chipped away until they finally knocked out an opening large enough to pass through.

Success!

Paige linked her hands and gave the genius a boost, suddenly ecstatic about the low gravity she'd been cursing moments before. He shinnied through the jagged hole and pulled himself up into Sector Three. Paige eyed the dangerous weapons with trepidation as Walter lay down prone underneath one and held his arms down to help her with leverage so she could climb up and join him. Her instincts were screaming at her to stay as far away from the toxin as possible, but what choice did she have? Without further hesitation and with Walter's assistance, she pulled herself up.

There were six deadly rockets to dismantle and/or disengage and the allotted time was ticking down quicker than either of them would've liked. What made it worse was the two of them were woozy with hunger and weariness as they'd been working non-stop since they'd located Sector Three. Not to mention, their helmets, the ones they dared not remove because of the risk of exposure, sported damaged and scratched face shields from the drips of bleach concentrate, rendering their view obstructed at best. Their suits' oxygen supply was also running dangerously low and it would take more time than they had to reassemble Virgyl and send him to the rover to get a new tank for refills. Any of those factors alone would've made them clumsy, but coupled with the awkward, chubby-fingered gloves, they both spent more time retrieving dropped tools than actually making any kind of noticeable progress.

Paige felt exhausted and irritable and near tears as she stooped to pick up a pair of needle-nosed pliers for the forth time in as many minutes. "Why are there so many? What is the significance of six, do you think?" She asked the question more to distract herself from the frustration than because she was actually curious about the number.

"Hmm," Walter grunted as he finally managed to pry a panel loose. "My best guess?" He answered absently, "One for each continent."

She mimicked his actions and was able to jimmy open another rocket. "There are _seven_ continents, genius."

"Not to bore you by droning on about genius stuff, but keep in mind, you did challenge me," the couple exchanged a teasing glance, "Europe and Asia are joined. The ancient Greeks thought the Sea of Marmara divided Europe and Asia. Once humans figured out they were actually connected, it was ingrained in tradition to call them by separate names. We already know these aliens have no respect for humans or our traditions. Therefore, I see no reason we should respect their authority or their tech." With that statement, they both heard a sputtering crackle and the unmistakable sound of a machine powering down.

"Ha! Look at that! You just saved North America!" Paige said in triumphant relief, flashing him an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"It was likely only Antarctica."

"Well, the penguins and the scientists will be grateful then."

He grinned at her silliness. "The penguins and scientists won't ever know the difference. I have to mention, it is quite impressive that Happy is even a prodigy with alien machinery."

"Yep. She knew just how to handle these suckers. I guess the penguins owe her one too."

Walter chuckled and budged over, squeezing in beside her. "I guess they do. Here. Scoot over there and work on opening the next one while I disconnect the one you already got."

Once five of the six were powered down, feeling giddy with the rapid headway, as well as unsteady with hunger, sleep and oxygen deprivation, the pair was growing overeager to finish and celebrate victory.

Before ducking around to finish tinkering with the last rocket, Walter stood and bent backward to stretch the kinks out of his back. He'd gotten stiff from leaning over the missiles for so long.

"What a team! We've almost saved the planet. Five down, one to go." Paige skirted around the final weapon she'd just wrested open and bumped his hip with hers.

Caught off guard, he stumbled sideways and crashed into the platform of the rocket he'd just finished disarming. The two of them watched in horror as it tumbled to the side and slammed into its neighbor. There was a sickening screech of metal scraping against metal and the snap of sparks. The rocket fired and shot like an arrow straight through the glowing amber ceiling before Walter could react enough to do little more than slap at it in a feeble effort to alter the trajectory.

The roof automatically repaired itself, closing over the hole left in it. There was no time to be impressed with the advanced technology or wonder at how it worked, however, because, as the couple watched in gape-mouthed horror, the missile arced back toward the moon. It took out the rover with a boom loud enough to make them stumble backward. Only a smoldering crater was left. A huge, white, toxic mushroom cloud shot straight up into the sky seconds later.

As they stood frozen in shock, the weakened floor of Sector Three unexpectedly gave way. Walter and Paige tumbled to the table below then rolled to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Luckily, their thickly-padded space suits protected them from the worst of the fall, but they wouldn't be protected from the teetering rockets still wedged above the widening gap over their heads. They helped one another to stand and bolted down the hall as projectiles collapsed through the compromised floor like dominos, crushing the metal table they'd used as a stepstool with a deafening din.

Panting and gasping, their panicked eyes met through the widening spider web cracks forming in their protective face shields.


	16. Windows

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: I was really hoping I could get this finished before vacation, but it doesn't look promising at this point. I hope you all are still with me. As ever, thank you** **so much for the reviews and encouragement. For any of you science nerds out there, please suspend any disbelief. It's fiction... and it's Scorpion.**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

This was _it_. The ultimate IT.

It was bound to happen. All those other times they'd defied impossible odds had finally caught up with them.

This was certain to be the one time all of Walter's brain power couldn't save them. She _knew_.

Paige was strangely calm in spite of the knowledge. She took a deep, steadying breath. She supposed this particular mission was worth the big _it_.

Ralph was safe. He could go back to Earth. He had an Earth to go back to. He would lead a full life. He had a whole family to care for him. It would be wrenching to lose both of his parents at once. But he had a solid support system; people who would help him. Paige had survived her father's death and her mother's abandonment. Not without scars. But she'd gotten through. Ralph would make it too. He would carry on. Knowing he was loved beyond this life.

The same way she knew she was loved.

Plus, her sacrifice would mean all of life on Earth would continue. At least her death had meaning. A purpose. She could be at peace with that.

She reached for Walter's hand. If she was going to die by suffocation or be annihilated by some malevolent alien virus, at least she wasn't alone.

Or maybe she was?

Walter didn't acknowledge her at all. His eyes were narrowed and he was quietly mumbling away behind his nearly fatally compromised face shield, completely unaware of her recent existential epiphany. "…if I'm right, it could work. I'll need Sylvester or Ralph to check my calculations…"

"Earth to Walter! I mean, Moon to Walter?" Paige had the strange impulse to dissolve into giggles, "What could work? Non-genius in the room. Remember me?" She gave a little wave and snickered in spite of her efforts to keep the manic laughter in check.

"Paige, is your oxygen is getting thinner or something? You should try to conserve. In other words, you can't afford to become hysterical. I estimate approximately another forty minutes of air. That's _if_ our visors hold up," he lectured.

Chafing a little from the rebuke, Paige asked in a more serious tone, "So what's the plan then, genius boy?"

More to himself than her, he replied, "My laptop is likely smashed to rubble underneath that pile of deactivated missiles. So, obviously our most pressing need is to get to the command center and figure out how to communicate with the shuttle."

"Then what? Say our goodbyes? We don't have a way to get back up there. In case you missed it, our ride is in the middle of a toxic, smoking crater right now. And at this point I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell we're going to convince the captain to change her mind about landing the whole crew down here. She's not going to just nip on down and pick us up on the way back home. She sent me here to die, you know."

"I know. Just listen. My idea might sound a little crazy…"

"Nothing safe ever follows those words," she muttered to herself.

Ignoring her, he went on, "But I think I can use the decommissioned rockets to make us basic jet packs. If I can find a way to reinforce our helmets and Happy can help me figure out how to disconnect the warheads." He snorted. "It would kinda defeat the purpose if we brought the toxins back to the shuttle with us. That would negate the whole mission. I'll need Ralph and Sly to help me hack into the guidance systems too. They are way more sophisticated than anything we've seen before, but I'm sure we can manage. And we'll have to figure out a better landing since they're actually _designed_ to crash with maximum impact. No brakes. I have some ideas I need to run by…" Walter said all this while walking quickly away toward the command hub until she couldn't hear him any more.

Of course, she hadn't really heard anything after 'jet packs'. Her brain had shut down in self-defense.

So… Apparently Walter wanted to turn them into human missiles. Nice. And in less than forty minutes. Great. Just perfect. No problem at all.

She shrugged and trotted after him. Well, why the hell not? Just another day in the life of a Scorpion team member. "Wait. Walter. Hey, wait up."

Acting as his assistant by handing him the necessary tools, Paige watched him as he fumbled with both haste and fatigue. While Sly and Ralph were double checking coordinates and flight path figures, Happy was walking Walter through the necessary modifications.

Paige didn't know whether she wanted to understand the plan or not, but she couldn't help but overhear some things anyway. From the discernable bits and pieces she could pick out from the geniuses' yammerings, Walter would strengthen their visors with some of the barrier material from Sector Three. From the experiments he'd conducted on it and based on its unusual behavior when the last missile fired, he'd deduced that it was actually made of a magnetized, transparent metal. Therefore, some metals, it resisted. Some it attracted. The same as any magnet. He could polarize the material in their ruined visors, with the electrodes he'd already fashioned from Virgyl's wiring, to attract it.

Problem Numero Uno solved. Yay.

And onto the next…

Numero Dos was turning them into human missiles and shooting them at the shuttle without killing them or all the other souls on board. That somehow involved the rockets releasing them at the precise time and angle while the shuttle was dropping in its orbit slightly to 'catch' them. The rockets, in theory, would continue on indefinitely into space. It was risky. There was absolutely no margin for error.

In other words, it was a completely stupid, yet genius idea.

Paige felt the stupidity more than the genius when she allowed Walter to secure the missiles to the back of their space suits, but with roughly two minutes of oxygen left she had little choice but to comply. He adjusted them on the platform, correcting the angle by millimeters.

Since there could be no further communication with the shuttle, there would be no warning. Sylvester and Ralph would be powering up and controlling the rockets remotely. That was probably a lucky thing, because she was shaking so much she would surely veer off course if she was required to aim or steer.

They waited out the last excruciating seconds in silence.

Paige sent up several vehement prayers, some apologizing for how many times they'd already tempted fate before, some begging to be allowed one more miracle. Then she looked over at Walter and mouthed 'I love you' just as the rockets fired and blew out through the ceiling, hurtling up and up and up into the darkness.

She must have passed out for a few moments from the fright or the speed or the G force. Take your pick. The inside of her helmet was hot and swampy and her lungs were fighting to inflate, gasping for air. She must've run out or sprung a leak.

Paige could see the shuttle, a tiny beacon of hope ahead of her growing larger with each second. Walter was beside her a few feet away, and he was gesturing frantically for her to get ready to release the strap holding her to the missile. That missile felt like her only anchor and she was paralyzed with terror, shaking her head.

Walter looked over, his eyes pleading. He mouthed, "For Ralph. And me. Please. Trust me."

Then he slowly counted, "Three. Two. One."

She did trust him, so she nodded and slapped the release.

The weight of the rocket disappeared and it shot straight over her head as she maintained her forward momentum. Black spots swam before her eyes. She fought to stay awake, keeping her focus on the shuttle. The cargo bay doors should be opening any second.

But they didn't.

She and Walter were speeding closer and closer and still they didn't open. Her last thought before she blacked out was, 'We're going to crash! We're going to die!'

oOoOoOoOoOo

Toby's was the first face Paige saw when she came to. It materialized before her eyes as he bent over her busily checking the placement of a nasal cannula pumping air into her starved lungs.

Ha! She wasn't dead, then. She'd made it.

Walter! What about Walter!?

She croaked his name and tried to sit up. Toby gently pressed her shoulders back down on the gurney. "Paige. Calm down. He's fine."

"What happened?"

Toby handed her some water and told her to drink up. If she hadn't realized she was dying of thirst, she would've refused. She chose to glare at him over the rim of the cup instead as she gulped.

"He didn't run out of oxygen like you did, so he was fully awake when he landed. He only sustained a few minor bumps and bruises. The captain dragged him off to interrogate him as soon as we knew you were going to make it. He wasn't very happy about it, but he's fine. At least physically."

"Did the doors malfunction or something?" Paige asked with a puzzled frown as the hazy memories of the ordeal began to clear. "I don't ever remember seeing them open."

"Yeah. About that. Ralph hacked in to remotely fly the shuttle into position while Sylvester was controlling your missiles' trajectories. We know the command to open the bay doors was given alright, but someone overrode that command at the last minute. Happy did some fancy footwork and then we had to suit up and force them open ourselves. We barely managed to get them open in time."

"Thank you." Paige grasped the doc's forearm and repeated sincerely, "Really. Thank you." After a moment to consider what else he'd told her, she asked, "Who would override that command, though? Huang again? I mean, seriously. What is her deal?"

"No. It wasn't her. Believe it or not, she was with us. When the pilot deck reported the ship was off course and someone was entering new coordinates, she figured it must be us and rushed right down. She was there the whole time. Even helped us with the doors in the end. I'm starting to think she's the not one who's been sabotaging the mission like we thought. Or if it was, I suspect she was being fed suggestions and false information."

"Then who? Who else would want us to fail? Or want me and Walter to die? Who's behind all this?"

Toby looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I'm not positive, but I have a strong suspicion. There was only one person who's been with us every time we've planned anything. One person who was glaringly absent when we were scrambling trying to get you and Walter back onto the shuttle safely. Someone who was supposed to be manning the nets we had in place to catch you."

"Well, who was that?"

"You can do the math there. See, I only have impressions of this person's behavior patterns. I don't really want to point fingers without getting all the facts first…"

"Who?"

"I don't want to stir the pot."

"Since when? To- _by_! Tell me! _Who_?!"

"Florence, okay?! I think it might be Florence!"


	17. Question Mark

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Well, this has been a journey for sure. We're drawing to a close now. Just a little epilogue chapter to wrap it up left to go. I hope you've enjoyed it! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! to all the faithful readers and reviewers. You rock!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

"For a bunch of supposed geniuses, you really are stupid. You don't have any proof," Florence sneered defensively at no one in particular, her arms folded tightly across her thin chest. "And I'm not obligated to tell you anything," she added caustically.

She'd dropped the innocent charade only moments before when Toby kept pointing out all of her 'tells'.

The team was gathered around Captain Huang's desk taking up all the available space in the miniscule office while they watched the behaviorist grill Flo about her whereabouts during all the incidents of sabotage.

"Oh, but your micro-expressions are telling me everything I need to know. Not to mention you were the only one with means, knowledge and access every single time. You helped Happy and I fill and weigh those oxygen tanks. You, of all people, would know the precise ratio of hydrochloric acid and nitrous oxide that would be toxic to plants but not to humans. You helped Sly load the bio-dome materials and, when you logged the inventory, you had the computer authorization to set the bay doors to open automatically once we left Earth's orbit. And Happy discovered the fuel tank on the shuttle was warped chemically using the exact same method you suggested Walter and Paige use to weaken the structural integrity of the walls on the moon base. See? Not so stupid after all," Toby smirked, "I have no doubt it was you. What I don't get is _why_?"

The captain threw in, "You cannot deny you were the one to first suggest I use Paige for the lunar landing endeavor. You also used every opportunity to point out exactly how expendable she is."

The chemist squirmed uneasily under the scrutiny, her eyes flitting around to each suspicious face. "Perhaps. But you wouldn't have listened to me if you couldn't follow the logic in my suggestions. You have to admit…"

"I am ashamed, but I do have to admit I also allowed you to use my personal feelings about leaving my own husband back on Earth against me. You knew it would affect my ultimate decision."

" _Why_? I trusted you," Walter interrupted, his stare drilling into Florence, his expression agitated, "Why would you do that to us? To-to me?"

Florence's eyes softened and settled on his. Her voice took on a pleading note. "You have to understand. I did it _for_ you. It was for your own good."

"How could killing the woman I love be for my _good_? I thought we were friends…"

" _Friends_ ," Florence scoffed, her lip curling in disgust. "What do you know about how friends should act? Look at these people." She gestured around the room at the former Scorpion team members, "All you've ever had is these not-so-shining examples of true friendship! They _left_ you. Abandoned you. Tried to destroy everything you've worked for. Hated you because you made what they perceived to be a mistake. Then when this stupid invasion crisis arose, what did you do? You went running back for them. You made sure they were included on the mission. Don't you get it? Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm the only one who truly _gets_ you! I _genuinely_ love you. Unlike them. I _stayed_! I stood by your side and took whatever crumbs of affection you offered while you mourned for all these jerks! Okay. I tried to accept it when you made sure these other so-called geniuses were in on the mission. I understood they could be useful. Alright. They're scientists," She glared briefly at Toby, "Sort of. But then you had to go and include _her_ ," Spit was gathering at the corners of her mouth and her eyes were wild as she pointed an accusing finger at Paige. Her words dripped with crazed hatred and contempt. "I wasn't going to colonize Mars or anywhere else with the likes of _her_. I don't blame _you_. Don't forget, I was taken in by her charm too. At first. She acted like she wanted to be my friend. Remember? Inviting me for coffee. Asking everyone to give me a chance. Then you had that dream and suddenly she turns on me and treats me like crap on the bottom of her oh-so-stylish designer shoes! She's too much of a diva to believe you would ever dream of anyone but her! Or maybe she saw the dream for what it really was. A sign. Like I did. That you and I were meant to be together. Whatever. But she dumped you! Hated you for being who you are! I will always celebrate you. Walter… I love everything about you. Well, with maybe the one exception of your misplaced loyalty. I was only trying to help you with that. We could've been so happy together. But you went crawling back to _her_. You _married_ her! Don't you have any pride? I was doing you a favor. You deserve someone who loves you for who and what you are. Someone who respects your abilities and shares your interests…"

"Enough!" Walter roared.

The room echoed into stunned silence.

Then through gritted teeth, he finished quietly, addressing the guards, "Get her out of here." He clenched and unclenched shaking fists. "Get her out of my sight."

As security pulled her up from her chair and marched her out the door, she continued to call, "Wait! I care for you like no one else. Give me a chance! We could be together. Walter? I love you…" Florence began wailing piteously.

A loaded silence fell again and stretched until Toby's voice broke it, "Wow. Who else is totally creeped out? I mean, 'Fatal Attraction', much?"

Happy tsked and slapped the back of his head, rolling her eyes heavenward.

"Ow. What? Everyone else was thinking it too," he muttered in response to the typical spousal abuse.

Walter stood in the middle of the room quietly seething, his eyes pinched tightly closed. He rubbed at his temples. "This is my fault," he murmured, "I never should've told anyone about that damn dream."

"No. Walter stop…" Paige began as he stalked from the room.

The team stared at one another uneasily.

"I'm super uncomfortable right now," Sylvester started, "How could I have been so wrong about her?"

"You? I'm the genius behaviorist and it took me this long to pick out the psycho in our midst."

"I'm the one who is supposed to have good instincts about people. I blew it too. She had us all fooled," Paige added, shaking her head in disbelief, "I never would've guessed."

Happy pointed out, "She may be a nut bar, but did anyone else notice most of what she said was true? Once you waded through all the obsessive and weird crap, that is. I mean, I know Walter can be a pain in the ass…"

"We suck as friends, don't we?" Sly hung his head, but not before Paige noticed him tearing up.

She patted his slumped shoulder reassuringly. "We'll just have to make up for it moving forward. Right?" Looking at her assembled friends, she said bracingly, "I think I'll get started right now."

With determination, Paige left to go find her husband.

oOoOoOoOoOo

It took some convincing. But eventually Paige got Walter to agree it wasn't his fault her life had been in jeopardy. She also finally talked him around to seeing the fact he wasn't the only one responsible for supporting Florence even though he'd pulled strings to include her on that particular mission. If Paige and Toby hadn't seen the woman for what she was, there was no way Walter would've ever picked up on it. Paige finally swayed him on that point by mentioning she'd trusted Flo so much she'd allowed the woman to watch Ralph a time or two.

It didn't stop Walter from feeling like a fool. But at least he felt less like a guilty fool.

They both sighed and relaxed into each other's embrace on the tiny futon in their quarters, holding on tight.

"So.." Walter started to say at the same time Paige said, "Hey, Walt…"

They both chuckled a little then did a quick back and forth encouraging the other one to go first.

At Paige's insistence, Walter inquired almost timidly, "So... What happens now? You know, when we get back? Do we, uh, s-stay…"

"Are you talking about the team? Or-or us?"

"Um, us? Well, obviously, I-I'd like the team to reunite. Work together again. If-if everyone is in agreement. But mostly I mean… us."

She hesitated a moment, unsure, "Are you asking if we should stay married?"

"Yes."

"What do you _want_ to do?"

"I know what _I'd_ like to do. But it doesn't matter if you don't want the same thing."

"Remember that day I told you to be honest about my new waffle recipe and you were then I confused you by saying you should've lied to spare my feelings?"

Walter nodded, eyes wide, wondering where she was going with this.

"This time, I mean it when I say I want you to be strictly, no-holds-barred, one hundred and ten percent honest. Okay?"

"It's impossible to be more than one hundred percent of anything," He grinned crookedly at her.

Paige smiled back and slapped at his shoulder playfully. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

Sobering quickly, he answered one hundred percent truthfully, like she'd asked, "It's very difficult to change one's essential personality. I'm not sure I'd ever be completely successful. Are you sure you can live with me spouting facts all the time? Correcting misconceptions? I don't do it maliciously." He tapped his temple. "It's how my mind works."

"I know. And it honestly doesn't bother me most of the time. What if I promise to tell you when I need you to dial it back a little?"

Walter nodded. "That could work."

"How 'bout you? Can you live with my insecurities? My lack of interest in science lectures? My tendency to react with anger and my walking out before giving you a chance to explain or defend yourself?"

With utter sincerity, he replied, "I want you no matter what. Under any circumstances. I always have."

Well. There was only one way to react to that.

Paige pounced on Walter and didn't let him come up for air for the better part of an hour. He didn't protest.

 **P.S. I apologize to all the Flo fans out there. Rest assured, I always liked her character. I didn't like the way they were using her as a plot device to divide Waige, but overall I liked having another low EQ genius hanging around. I had an PM conversation with ElementalZero a while back and we talked about how in other stories I've seen Flo used as a pawn, but I thought it would be an interesting take if she was the actual perpetrator all along. So I incorporated that idea into this story. Tell me what you think.**


	18. Home

INVASION EVASION

 **AN: Finally! The promised epilogue! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. You guys rock!**

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

They'd only been back a few weeks, but life was settling in to their version of normal again. Without a whole lot of discussion or fuss, Walter had moved into Paige's condo once they'd returned to Earth and he only periodically stayed in the loft when a case went particularly late. When that happened, Paige and Ralph usually ended up staying with him. It felt so easy, so unbelievably right, being a family again.

It took a bit more time for the team to dissolve Centipede Partners and draw up newer, fairer employee contracts with Scorpion. They were just beginning to take on new cases again. They were forging onward and the future looked brighter.

But Walter still seemed a little off some days, as if he was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. That particular day, he'd been acting agitated and disappeared some time after lunch. Unable to concentrate because she was beginning to worry, Paige stopped typing mid-invoice and decided to leave her desk to go and hunt for him.

"There you are. I was wondering where you'd gone." She found him in the loft, leaning on the railing and peering down into the garage from above.

When Walter only gave her a crooked half smile in response, Paige tilted her head to one side and asked, "Is everything okay?"

Walter held out a hand for hers and replied, "Yes. Everything is perfect. Almost too perfect." He shook his head, "I know that sounds dumb."

Instead of taking his proffered hand, she stepped over next to him and slipped her arms around his waist. They both watched the activity below for a few minutes. Toby and Happy were in the midst of a rubber band war with Sylvester and Ralph caught in the crossfire. Sly was covering his head with his arms and shrieking that he didn't want to play and Ralph was picking up discarded ammo and returning fire. Cabe roared at them all to grow up before setting his coffee mug down and joining forces with Ralph. The former marine's aim was better than anyone else's and he soon had them all ducking for cover and cowering behind their respective desks.

Paige chuckled. "So _this_ is your idea of perfection?" They shared an amused look.

"Yes. It's a big improvement, believe me." He pressed a kiss to her temple.

The noise and chaos floated up and washed over them momentarily unnoticed while their gazes caught and held.

"Happy to be home?" She asked, suddenly filled with affection for the man at her side and the family they'd built.

"Yes. Very much so." After a pause, his brow furrowed, "And still a little concerned at the same time."

"Oh? What about?"

"How fragile all this is. How easily it fell apart. I feel like I could mess up at any time and I'd lose it all again. If it hadn't been for this case..."

"Hey," Paige turned and took his face between her palms. "It won't. _You_ won't. I promise I'll always fight like hell for us before it ever gets that far again."

He gave her a skeptical look. "No one can't guarantee that. I thought we were strong last time when we split up."

She let her hands drop to his neck, pulled him in and kissed him hard on the mouth. "We _all_ messed up last time and yet here we are. We made our way back to each other in the end. Like we always do."

When he still didn't seem convinced, she sighed. "Besides, since you up and married me, it would be quite a bit harder to just walk out. But, how about this? Let's get some professional help this time around. I'll talk to someone about my insecurities. You can work on showing appreciation. And together, we can both work on effective communication. And if all that doesn't do the trick? We'll take another terrifyingly dangerous case where the situation is dire and we need each other and everything will fall in place again. How does that sound?"

Walter pulled her against him. "Now, _that_ sounds perfect."


End file.
